The Path of Destiny
by Ginzuishou1
Summary: 500 years, 1996, and while Kagome is beginning her quest for the Shikon no Tama with her friends, Inuyasha and the others are awakening to their past lives with a mission: protect Kagome and the Shikon no Tama in the modern world from youkai who would seek it. Under no circumstances must Kagome or Inuyasha know they exist, leading to some awkwardness courtesy of old friends.
1. Strange Dreams

A lot of people have done a story on Miroku, Sango and everyone else being reincarnated into Kagome's time. Usually what happens is that Kagome finds out and decides to try and make them remember or befriends them or what not. I feel that this is sometimes an over used plot and wanted to try my hand at something a bit different.

Just for the record:

Yukimura Taji - Inuyasha

Yukimura Sumiko - Rin

Miyamoto Kaori - Sango

Kiyoraka Kazuo - Miroku

Kiyoraka Yasuo - Kohaku

Hey, I didn't say I was going with COMPLETELY new territory here. Some stereotypes and overly used conveniences are happening.

Inuyasha/Taji - 15

Sango/Kaori - 15

Miroku/Kazuo - 15

Rin/Sumiko - 8

Kohaku/Kazuo - 12

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns the wonderful characters of Inuyasha.

**The Path of Destiny**

**Chapter 1**

**Strange Dreams**

Taji sat on his front porch and sighed. There was life and light outside, but it did not interest him. Children were playing down the street, and teenagers his age were riding bikes and talking about going to the movies. A strange man walked past the vacant home across the street and began jotting things down on a pad of paper. The setting sun caused all of the events to have an orange glow, making them seem even more peaceful, almost surreal.

Normally, he would have been at least semi-interested in the goings on, but not today. As a matter of fact, in the several weeks since he began having the strange dreams, he hadn't felt like doing much of anything.

Except finding her.

Taji grunted and stood up quickly. "Feh." He brushed his long, black hair from his face and shook his head. Kaori was right. Thinking about this shit was stupid.

His mother was concerned for him. He hardly slept anymore, and when he did he could only dream of battles and blood shed and...HER in the middle of it all. A shining beacon of hope through the rain of swords and terror. Taji didn't want to worry his mother, she had enough going on with the business his father had left them when he died a few years ago. He didn't want to add to her burden.

"Taji! Come inside, it's dinner time!" his mother yelled from the kitchen.

"Yeah, okay,!" Taji grunted. He quickly wiped his feet off, not daring to let his mom know that he had been outside barefooted again. Ever since he was young, he had hated shoes, and went without them as often as possible. As far as he was concerned, there were more important things to worry about than ancient scrolls and customs.

Like his dreams.

The light of the sunset reflected into his violet eyes and he covered them as he walked into the house. He took off his red coat and tried to put thoughts of her out of his mind. Whoever she was, she was just a dream anyway.

OoOoO

"Another one?" Kaori, his best friend, inquired in disbelief. "That's one every night this week, Taji!" Her dark brown eyes widened in shock at the news.

Taji nodded and shoveled more rice into his mouth, careful not to get his long hair caught in his chopsticks in the process. He quickly gulped it down with juice before speaking again. "Yeah, I know. They're coming all the time now. Same world, same people...all of them calling me some weird name."

"Ah..." she said softly, picking through her own lunch. "Have you figured out all the names yet?"

He ignored the question. "You gonna eat that?" he asked pointing to her lunch, his mouth full of rice and meat.

Kaori blanched and shoved her bento towards him. Being friends with Taji took dieting to a completely new level sometimes. "Do you know how to chew?"

"Feh! You've known me since we were in diapers and you're just now asking me that?" Taji shot back at her.

Kaori rolled her eyes skyward and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "It's no wonder you don't have a girlfriend."

Taji's violet eyes glared at her. For a moment, he was half-tempted to resort to their usual way of resolving fights; by throwing things at each other until someone eventually had some part of their body bleeding or bruised, when Kaori changed the subject.

"What do you think they mean?" she ventured again. She was almost afraid to ask, if for no other reason than Taji kept mentioning that he thought she was in the dreams almost every night, but she had a different name. Though her role, as far as she could tell, was that of a close friend and as something else...something strong.

Shrugging, Taji put his box back into his bag. He tipped his chair backwards and stared up at the ceiling, lost in his thought about his dream from the night before.

He had been somewhere different than most of the dreams. It looked like a modern day house as opposed to the ancient homes he was used to seeing. He could remember being angry, very angry with someone and because of this, he was going to make her...yeah, her, apologize to him. Sure, she had been in the right for whatever it was, but he didn't get an attitude and run off as she had.

He had climbed in through the girls' window (which was on the second story, he had noted) and watched her sleep for a moment before SOMETHING happened...a word in her sleep had caused him great pain and then her alarm clock had gone off. He awoke at that point; obviously he had been hearing his own alarm clock in the dream.

Well, except hers had sounded slightly different than his...

Suddenly, he lost his balance and fell backwards from the chair, hitting his head on the floor. "OW! What the he-Sensei?" he stopped suddenly when he realized who had tipped his chair back.

Takayama-sensei raised her eyebrows and pointed to the door. "Class started two minutes ago! Out!"

"But-"

"OUT!"

Taji glared at Kaori, who was immensely enjoying the display, before storming out of the room and slamming the door behind him. He'd been friends with the tomboy for years, but he was going to get her back for not waking him up.

OoOoO

"Taji! Oh! TAJI! Come on, I didn't do it on purpose, I didn't even see Sensei and-" Kaori stopped talking when she was subjected to another one of his glares. He kept walking and she sighed, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She shouldn't care, they were almost home anyway, but she had to get the last word in. "You've got a temper that suits a monster, Taji," she muttered darkly under her breath.

Taji whirled around and pointed at her. "Yeah, but now they'll probably call my mother! She ain't got enough to worry about, what with that bastard trying to take over the company! And my sister always getting sick! She just needs this compounded on it!" Kaori was closer to him and she just kept her mouth shut and listened as he ranted. When he was in one of these moods, it was impossible to shut him up. They seemed to occur more and more often as of late, she had noticed.

Finally, he took a breath and Kaori began her own tirade. "Well if you weren't so worried about some STUPID dreams more than your family and friends, you never would have gotten in trouble!"

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, you heard me, Yukimura Taji!" She blew her bangs out of her face and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Sometimes you're so obsessed with this girl that I think you've forgotten everything that really exists."

She had pissed him off, and she was prepared for it. Her sleeves were rolled up, and her shirt wasn't tucked in, making it very clear to even a casual observer that she wasn't one to be trifled with. Unfortunately, Taji was the only person, male or female, who had ever taken her down in a fight.

The two had been friends and neighbors their whole lives. Like all friends they had their difficulties, which had only once resulted in a fistfight. Kaori had the edge during most of the fight, but Taji had still won in the end. They had made up, as always, and the punches that were thrown were never again mentioned.

Kaori had always had an affinity towards physical sports, mostly kendo and kenpo, making her an outcast from most other girls. Taji was much the same, but his crass nature and often crude language had kept most of the neighborhood away from him. An unlikely pair, but a pair nonetheless.

The sound of a car pulling up near them and several doors opening and closing was what brought them out of their contest. A family of four was climbing out of a white car and examining a nearby vacant home.

Taji and Kaori exchanged glances and continued to watch as the father began looking up and down the street. It was soon obvious what he was looking for when a large moving van pulled up beside the car.

"I didn't know that place had sold," Taji mumbled to Kaori, who nodded her agreement. The house had been on the market for almost a year with no buyers, the neighborhood normally was in an uproar when new neighbors were expected. It seemed to be a surprise to everyone.

Kaori sighed and shifted her bag. "Well, it's not like we're far from home." They lived just across the street. "We should introduce ourselves." Taji sent her a look and Kaori gave him one right back. "If they haven't seen us by now, they're pretty stupid, so let's go!" She grabbed a lock of his hair and tugged, hard.

His cry caught the attention of the two children in the family. Both boys, one perhaps the same age as Kaori and Taji and the other was probably twelve or so. By the time they had looked, Taji was grabbing her hair back and yelling at her to let go.

"Let that young lady go!" the older boy demanded, rushing forward with his younger brother on his heels.

The two stopped at the sound of his voice and quickly realized how their situation must look. Taji flushed and quickly let go of Kaori's hair, and she of his. He turned to the man. "Look, this ain't what it-"

The young man wasn't listening. As a matter of fact, he had completely bypassed Taji and headed to Kaori. He grabbed her hands, and looked deeply into her eyes. "Miss, are you all right?"

The younger boy had caught up to his brother and slapped his hand to his forehead at the sight. "Oh no, not again," he mumbled.

Taji took his astonished eyes off Kaori and looked at the boy, who seemed to be utterly mortified by the display. He and the older one looked almost exactly alike with matching black eyes, the same type of face, and even the small ponytail they each wore. The main differences were the freckles scattered across the young boy's face.

"The hell is he doing, kid?" Taji demanded. For a moment, he was worried for Kaori's safety but had to remember...Kaori could take care of herself.

"He's being a pervert. Onii-chan's gonna get his butt kicked one day," the kid replied softly.

"There's no way he's always like...like THIS?!" Taji gestured towards the two. Kaori was still looking flabbergasted by all the praise she was getting from this new arrival, highly unusual for her. Meanwhile, the boy was making a large show of checking to be sure that she was as 'fine' as she claimed.

"No this is uhhh...tame for him, actually. Most girls would have smacked him around this time, or filed a restraining order." They continued to watch for a few more moments, but when nothing interesting happened, the kid shrugged. "Oh well, less babysitting for me to do. I'm Kiyoraka Yasuo by the way."

Taji bowed his head and introduced himself. "Yukimura Taji. And the perv over there..."

Yasuo rolled his eyes and finally made a step towards his brother. "My brother, Kazuo. We're moving in today. ONII-CHAN! Leave her alone, geeze!"

Kazuo stopped talking and walked with Kaori to where Taji and Yasuo were. "You must

forgive my brother, Kaori-san," Kazuo said, trying to sound important, "for he does not understand the world such as I do."

"One way of putting it."

Introductions went around once more, as well as a quick (and detail-free) explanation to the scene they had witnessed. The new friends quickly began to talk about the schools that they would be going to, what there was to do in this section of Tokyo and other general topics.

"Yasuo!" Kiyoraka Daichi, their father, yelled. "Come get your cat!"

"Okay, Otou-san!" Yasuo yelled and took off.

After he had left, an uncomfortable silence fell upon the three teenagers. They each tried to start a conversation, but quickly lapsed back into silence and stared at what they could find in the sky and grass.

Taji couldn't let go of the nagging feeling inside of him as he looked around. Kaori was sitting on the grass with her dark blue fuku tucked under her legs. Taji was leaning against a near-by tree, his arms crossed while Kazuo stood between the two of them. Somewhere, somehow ...he'd done this before. With these same people, the same silence and the same-

"Don't you feel as though we've done this before?" Kazuo asked suddenly, his eyes clouded and voice puzzled.

Taji's head snapped up at the question, which was quickly followed by Kaori's own puzzled voice. "I was...just thinking the same thing. This air, this feeling...it's familiar."

They looked to Taji expectantly. He almost snapped that they were crazy, but thought better of it and said what he felt. "I feel...that we've met somewhere like this."

"Kaori!" Miyamoto Ami yelled from across the street. She was walking over towards Taji's house when she spotted the trio across the street. "Oh, there you are! Come inside, you've got a phone call from your grandmother!"

"I'm coming!" Kaori yelled back, glad to be away from the strange situation. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Kazuo-kun." She smiled at him. "I hope we have class together!" With that, she turned around, but before she could walk away, she felt something brush against her butt and she froze.

On instinct, she whirled around and slapped Kazuo across the face. From the look on Taji's face, she had indeed, just been groped.

OoOoO

_He turned around, desperate for something to help. He had to save them! He had to save her! "Kagome! Hand me the Shikon fragment!" he yelled._

_"Inuyasha..." she whispered, shocked. "Inuyasha, you don't mean to use the Shikon fragment?"_

_Inuyasha nodded. "I'll use it! There's no other way!"_

_She shakily held out the jar containing their one Shikon shard and he grabbed it from her hand. "Inuyasha..."_

_'Please handle it, Shikon shard!' he thought as he broke the glass against his sword, embedding the shard into the metal. No sooner had he done so than he was blown back by the sudden tide of power that was being emitted. Power he couldn't control. He could hear the others behind him, but didn't care what they were saying. He was frightened now. 'Ugh! This is...Something is flowing from Tetsusaiga into me...'_

_He could feel the change in his body. His blood was on fire, screaming for release from his hanyou prison. He fought to keep control, because in the back of his mind he could still smell her. 'Sh-shit! My body doesn't obey me any more! My head is...'_

_He turned suddenly, keeping a firm grip on Tetsusaiga. He could tell by the way they looked at him that they were scared. Scared of him. 'Run away you lot!' he tried to yell._

_She, the girl who was always there, always in his dreams, moved and threw off the red armor that was protecting her, and she cried out his name. "Inuyasha!" She wasn't paying any mind to the acid that was burning into her skin, or the voices of her friends. She ran for him and threw her arms around his stomach._

_He could smell more acid, and growled, trying to force her away, but she held him fast. She was in pain, he could smell her flesh burning, but she dared not let him go. He already could feel it happening and his blood cooled as her power coursed through him, calming him._

_'Kago...me...'_

OoOoO

"KAGOME!" Taji yelled as he sat up in bed. He looked around, expecting to see her, expecting to see...He stopped and tried to still the beating of his heart. He didn't know who he was expecting to see anymore. Just as quickly as it had been there, it was gone. He took a few deep breaths and wiped the sweat from his brow.

It had been so vivid so...frightening. He could still smell the acid, taste the blood lust.

The door to his bedroom creaked, startling him. He nearly fell out of his bed, but could only sigh in relief when his little sister, Sumiko, poked her head into his room. "Onii-chan...are you okay?" she whispered while she closed the door to his room and leaned against it.

"Yeah." He ran a shaky hand through his hair and exhaled once again. "Why wouldn't I be?" His voice sounded normal to his ears, but Sumiko wasn't fooled.

She nodded slowly and shuffled her feet. "Then...why were you screaming?"

"I wasn't screaming!" he snapped.

Sumiko pouted and stamped her foot. "You were TOO!" she insisted. Taji shook his head, causing her to stamp her foot again. "Yes you were!" Since he wouldn't concede, she crossed her arms, mimicking his favorite position. "Fine. Then I'll just tell EVERYONE your girlfriend's name is KAGOME!"

With that said, the eight year old girl pivoted and threw the door open. The door closed with a soft clicking sound, and Taji just sat there, shocked. "Kagome?"

To be continued...

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, there's more than a few to come. I've got quite a few of them written, even! I got the translation for the dream online from a scanlation. I would have probably used the official manga translation but volumes 36-39 of my manga vanished during my move. So of course that scene happened to be in volume 36. I might continue using the scanlations because sometimes I find the English translation to be poorly done.

For the most part I'll be following the manga, but there's some anime eps that I'll want to follow as well, plus I happen to want some anime only characters in the story, so I'll do my best to blend them without getting too convoluted. Though this is a rebirth story so it'll be convoluted without trying. So I beg you to hold on for the ride, I'll explain as much as possible.

Also a note about Taji/Inuyasha's hair. To the best of my understanding it is against the rules of most schools for boys to wear their hair as long as Inuyasha's is. It can signify you're in a gang, it looks sloppy, ect...ect...It's just not allowed. So I'm going to pretend that he's getting away with it without being punished.

Until next time!

Ginzuishou


	2. Brothers

A quick note about Taji/Inuyasha's hair and school. To the best of my knowledge hair as long as Inuyasha's would not be allowed in school because it can be considered to be gang related, sloppy, and other such relations. So I'm going to just forget about that little rule. I'd never cut Inuyasha's hair.

Just for the record:

Yukimura Taji - Inuyasha

Yukimura Sumiko - Rin

Miyamoto Kaori - Sango

Kiyoraka Kazuo - Miroku

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Just borrowing it for fun.

**The Path of Destiny**

**CHAPTER 2**

**Brothers**

Taji didn't sleep the entire night, he just lay awake, repeating what he could remember of the dream over and over. He didn't remember saying the name, but the more he repeated it and thought about it...yes, that was her name. He could feel that it was her name down to his bones. He was sure of it.

He could see that dawn was approaching and decided he should get up. He wanted to be out before Sumiko could tell his mother about the night before. Past experience taught him that she was adorable - but her innocence could be used for evil, too.

"Only against me though," he muttered as he began to dress for the day.

He was out the door after a quick breakfast of the only thing he was able to cook; pop tarts. He left a note to his mom saying he had left early and that he would probably be home late. He ran out the door to Kaori's house, stopping only briefly when he saw that Kazuo was outside practicing what looked to be some form of martial arts. He waved cheerfully to Taji, who sent one of his death glares his way.

Kazuo looked honestly puzzled, but smiled and went back to his routine. Taji shook his head. Either he was trying to play innocent, or he really was that stupid. Probably a combination of the two. However, he had to give the guy credit - he was still alive. After the incident he had turned right back into the cheerful conversationalist he had been earlier.

He reached the door to Kaori's home and began to beat on it, not caring that he was probably waking her family up. The door swung open a moment later, and he was greeted with an unusual, but not wholly unexpected, sight: Kaori in her pajamas, holding a baseball bat across her shoulder. When it registered who she was seeing, she sighed and put the bat down. "Oh, it's just you."

Taji gave her a look and Kaori motioned for him to come in. She rubbed her eyes and wondered if anyone would protest to her hitting him with the bat. "Why are you here so early? The sun's barely up," she whined, wishing she were back in her warm bed.

"Kagome."

Kaori suddenly froze, a look of genuine concern on her face. "No. Kaori. Ka-o-ri. You feeling alright?" She put a hand on his forehead.

Taji ducked away from her hand, and set down his school bag. "Of course I'm alright, baka! Kagome! She's the girl in my dreams, that's her name. Kagome." He said the name softly and in such a way that Kaori became nervous.

"You said you couldn't remember the name of that girl," she insisted, puzzled by this new knowledge. He told her each time he remembered a name, so far he only had three names. Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku. He thought he had another one...Sessh or something like that. Now he wasn't so sure. She knew that he was Inuyasha and she was, supposedly, Sango. All the others were mysteries in both their identities and their names.

It was making it more real.

Excitedly, Taji launched into his tale of the dream, and about how he had remembered her name.

OoOoO

"We're leaving!" Kaori cried as she and Taji hurried out the door to school, throwing their shoes on while they ran. Kaori nearly tripped when she accidentally got her school skirt stuck in one of her shoes. They had closed the door and were half-way down the block when they stopped running to avoid colliding with not only Kazuo, and Yasuo (who were both wearing the same gray uniform as Taji), but also Sumiko.

"Eh? Sumi, what are you doing walking to school with that jerk?!" Taji demanded, pulling his younger sister towards him, glaring at Kazuo as he did so.

Sumi pushed her hair out of her face when she heard her brother's voice. She took Taji's hand in her own and grinned. "Onii-chan wasn't home to walk Sumi, so Sumi started walking on her own!"

Kaori looked at Sumi and kneeled down so she was eye-level with her. Ever since she was old enough to know what one was, she had always hoped to have a little brother or sister, but her parents had wanted two children and two children they got. Kaori's older sister was overseas in Europe, they didn't hear from her very often.

Needless to say, Kaori had taken to Sumi quickly, but it wasn't until Sumi was four years old that she realized that Kaori wasn't really her sister. Despite that, Kaori was and always would be 'Onee-chan.'

"We're sorry, Sumi-chan. Taji and I had to go over some homework before school. We didn't mean to forget you. So," Kaori stood and held her hand out to Sumi, "shall we?"

"YEAH!" Sumi let go of her brother's hand and replaced it with Kaori's. "Let's go, Onee-chan!"

Sumi, Yasuo, and Kaori led the group, with Taji and Kazuo trailing behind them. Kazuo made several attempts to quicken the pace, so he could get closer to Kaori, but Taji was quick to stop him, especially with his sister being so near.

Besides, the more he looked at Kazuo, the more he felt like his face was familiar.

"So," Kazuo began slowly, hoping to start putting some trust into his neighbor, "why were you at Kaori's house if you knew you had to walk Sumiko-chan to school?" The girl had been walking, rather nervously, along the sidewalk when the two boys had come upon her. They quickly realized they were going the same way, and offered to take her to her school. Sumi had been accepted easily despite not knowing them. "Anything going on between you two?"

"No! Where would you get that idiot idea?!" Taji demanded. Kazuo shrugged and focused his eyes in front of him. Taji shifted his bag from one hand to the other and sighed. "I didn't know Sumi was going to school."

"What?" Kazuo asked quietly, a bit startled. "Why wouldn't she go to school?"

"Sumi has a bad immune system, she's rarely at school," Taji explained. "It's a big deal when she goes to school, but no one told me last night." He felt a pang of guilt in his chest as he watched his sister giggle with Kaori. The guilt quickly faded when she grabbed Yasuo's hand and the three started to skip. Now he felt some-what murderous.

"Ah, it seems that Sumiko-chan has taken a liking to Yasuo," Kazuo said while grinning. "Isn't that cute, Taji-kun?"

Taji clenched his hands into fists and was determined to not look at Kazuo. "Yeah, yeah cute," he growled.

Kazuo was highly amused by the look on Taji's face and tried very hard to contain his laughter. He knew he wasn't one of Taji's favorite people, but he didn't care. The situation was amusing.

They soon reached Sumi's school, where they waved good-bye to her, with Taji yelling that she wasn't to leave until he came to pick her up after classes. The four continued on until they reached the middle school and Taji pointed them in the direction of the registrar's office so they could get their class assignment before he and Kaori went to their class.

Once they were out of earshot, Taji spoke up. "Feh! I don't like EITHER of them!" he announced so that almost everyone in the hall could hear them.

Kaori rolled her eyes. "You just don't like Yasuo-kun because Sumi-chan seems to like him."

"So?"

They entered their classroom, and Kaori groaned. "So? You can't dislike him just for that reason!"

Taji plopped into his seat and put his feet on his desk. "Watch me. And besides," he began before she could open her mouth, "you actually like being groped or something?"

Others were beginning to hear their conversation and Kaori put her finger to her lips. "Shut up!" she hissed. "Besides, that's not it! He seems perfectly nice besides being a pervert. It could have even been an accident." Taji raised his eyebrows. "Well it probably wasn't, but if he does it again, he won't have any means to procreate."

"Feh, that's my Kaori," Taji said approvingly.

Class started moments later, and the two put their discussion on hold until after homeroom. They had no sooner taken out their notebooks and folders then the door slid open and Kazuo stepped in, not looking the least bit worried about interrupting the class. The look on Kaori's face said enough, and Taji smirked.

The teacher didn't look surprised at all, and smiled at the new arrival.

"Glad you could make it today, Kiyoraka-kun. Class, this is Kiyoraka Kazuo-kun, please treat him with respect, and show him the school during his first few days here." The teacher scanned the class and his eyes rested on the seat behind Kaori, who shrunk a bit under his gaze. "Yes, why don't you sit behind Miyamoto-san," he said casually, not noticing how the girl looked.

"Oh? Kaori-san, I didn't know you were in my class!" he exclaimed as he headed to his seat. "Well, neighbors and classmates, this is my lucky day!" He sat down behind her and began to take out his notebook. "Not to mention the view is wonderful!"

OoOoO

"I'm home!" Sumi called out as she kicked off her shoes and ran into the house. "MAMA! The new neighbors are so nice, one of them is named Yasuo and he's..."

"I'm home," Taji mumbled as he entered the house. He took his jacket off and started for the stairs as his sister continued to go on about her day to their mother. Once inside his room, he drew the shades closed and collapsed on his bed.

The day had been a tiring one, though shockingly it had been a good day. After the initial comment at the beginning of class, which later ended up with Kazuo being slapped and Kaori being sent to the hallway, the day proceeded quite nicely. Kazuo proved to be knowledgeable in several different subjects and he was easy to talk to. There was something to him that they hadn't seen the day before; he was very serious about anything he did. Work or play, he was always very determined.

Taji eyes were heavy, and he knew he didn't stand a chance against his body's need for sleep. He closed his eyes, hoping for a few moments of peace, at the very least.

_"Inuyasha! Absolutely don't peep now!" Kagome yelled from the hot spring._

_Inuyasha was sitting with his back against a tree, and drawled. "Don't worry, its nothing I wanna see!" His heart sped up at the mention that he would peep, that he would want to, and for a brief moment he had entertained the idea, he was male, and he'd seen her naked before. She was not undesirable._

_But how to tell her that without sounding like a pervert?_

"TAJI!"

Taji cried out as he was awakened from his dream and fell out of his bed. For a moment, he thought Kagome had seen him looking. 'Fuck, my head's gonna be permanently bruised if I keep falling,' he thought crossly.

His mother opened the door when she heard him crash down and sighed. "Taji, really, were you asleep?" she asked.

Taji sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, guess I dozed off," he said quietly. His eyes widened when he saw that his mom wasn't dressed casually like she normally would be, but was in a dark purple business suit that reached just past her knees wearing her pearls and best perfume. "Wow, you look good, 'kaa-san." His eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Naoko brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "You really forgot, didn't you? We're meeting the CEO of the company that intends to buy me out for dinner tonight."

"Damn!" Taji said as he jumped up and ran to his closet. He had forgotten...he'd had so many other things on his mind that he'd completely forgotten about the business dinner. "My suit! Where-"

"Down stairs in the laundry room. I pressed it this morning," Naoko answered with a small smile.

"My shoes-"

"Next to the suit."

"I need to shower!"

"No time, Taji, just go put some nice cologne on and..." she gazed disapprovingly at his long hair, "brush your hair out." She walked out the door, but just as she was about to close it so he could get his things together, she stopped. "And Taji, this is very important, please be polite and don't give away the fact that we refuse to sell."

Taji nodded and began to look for a clean pair of socks. His father had started a bookstore years ago once he was out of college. The variety and ability to retrieve even out of print books had sparked the interest of many readers. It had quickly taken off, though he refused to expand it beyond the three stores in Tokyo.

After his father's death a couple of years ago, Naoko had taken up the task of running the business, and she had done a good job. After the first few months, she had managed to make it so she worked while her children were at school and did any work that she could do at home. Sometimes it required her to work late nights, but both Sumi and Taji were okay with that, because it meant they were able to see her more often.

He was dressed and ready in no time; his hair even looked mildly tame compared to normal. He met his family down near the door and noticed that his mom was adjusting her suit and Sumi was in a cream-colored dress and looking at her shoes with great interest.

"Onii-chan!" Sumi yelled when she saw him. "Look! My shoes are pretty again! They didn't used to be, but Mama made them pretty!"

Taji grinned at her cream colored shoes and ruffled her hair. "Yeah, they're pretty, Sumi."

"Are we ready?" Naoko asked as she surveyed her children. Her face was very serious and her eyes weren't smiling as they normally did. Refusing to sell or not, Taji knew that the company, Sedai, was a huge and powerful one. It was big to be offered something by them; though they didn't understand why Sedai would be interested in a bookstore. Hearing no one protest, she nodded and opened the door. "Than let's hurry, we should be there before Nishiyama-san at this time."

They hurried out the door and piled into the car. Taji could see Kaori and Kazuo outside on Kaori's front porch pouring over a book, studying together. Taji gave a short wave to them and then flipped Kazuo off when he laughed at his suit.

He was silent the entire ride down to the Rigatoni Restaurant, his thoughts on the unfinished dream from earlier.

OoOoO

Nishiyama Sesshoumaru, as he was now called, growled and leaned back into the leather of his limo. The new deal he had offered Yukimura was again rejected, so he counter offered with dinner at an Italian restaurant in the city to see if he could talk the owner, and her family apparently, into selling. Usually, he let his underlings take care of such simple tasks, but after the last fiasco nearly fifty years ago with NASA...well he wasn't taking any more chances with stubborn people. Only Jaken and a few others were able to do his business deals, now, and all of them happened to be out of the country.

The years had calmed his greatly. He was no longer a feared warlord, but a feared businessman in both the human and youkai worlds. He preferred the company of youkai, but had grown enough to not kill every human he came into contact with. He had even become what might be considered friends, or at least business acquaintances, with several of the youkai that his hanyou brother had known.

His cell phone rang and he quickly picked it up. "What?" he snapped to whoever was calling him.

"Well," came a familiar voice on the other end of the line, "you sound cheerful. Lose another bet to Kouga?" Shippou asked with a smirk from the other end. "Or did another one of your beloved employees try to sell your company secrets on the black market again?"

Sesshoumaru frowned. "I am not amused."

"You rarely are."

"Was there a reason for you to bother me, or are you lonely again?" Sesshoumaru asked calmly.

Shippou growled and just got to the point. "You really need someone to kick your ass around again, Sesshoumaru. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I got a chance to talk to Higurashi-san today. In the end, it took a little convincing, but she knows what's happening now. I gotta say, she took it as calmly as Inuyasha always told us she would.

He paused, letting the information sink it. It was happening. It was really happening. Kagome had fallen, or rather been pulled, into the well. She would be back in a few days, but for now she was simply...gone. "She'll make sure that no one interferes and will find some way to cover for her until everything gets sorted out. I made sure not to mention how I fit into any of this, but she did want to know." The polite tone was now gone from his voice as he continued. "So, if you smell Inuyasha around, you're sadly not going insane."

With that, he hung up.

Unfazed by the kitsune's tone, Sesshoumaru put his phone away and considered what had been said. Yes, Kagome, the miko his brother had traveled around with until she had just...vanished one day, as quickly as she had come. It wasn't until many years later, after his brother's death, that he actually took the time to sit down with other youkai who had contact with her and figure out where Kagome had come from and how important she was.

Throughout the years, everything she had ever told Shippou and Inuyasha started coming true. She had provided a timeline for all of them to follow, for all of them to survive. They were able to avoid some of bloodiest parts of history thanks to her stories. While Sesshoumaru wouldn't admit it, he knew she was the reason that youkai were even still in existence this day.

It had been 400 years since he had seen his brother, but he never once forgot his scent. It was almost amusing to think of possibly seeing someone who had been dead for so long. He would have to be careful, too. If he could smell Inuyasha, Inuyasha could smell him, which had the possibility of destroying the timeline and creating the type of paradox that made Stephen Hawking's brain hurt.

Finally, they arrived at the restaurant and Sesshoumaru stepped out of the limo, barely paying mind to the people around him who were gawking. He stopped once he reached the door and inhaled the air. There were hundreds of smells at this point but there were two that tugged at his memory strings...but not quite. They weren't quite right. He furrowed his brow and continued inside.

Now the kitsune had him paranoid.

As usual, the manager of the restaurant was there to greet him, thanking him for his continued patronage, and was there anything else he could do for him? He resisted the urge to rip the manager's lips off, and merely nodded politely as he was led to the back where the private table was set up.

The scents were getting stronger, and he swore that if he didn't know better...

The doors opened and Sesshoumaru was glad that he had several centuries of training for surprises that kept him calm. At the round table sat three people, Yukimura Naoko, and her two children, who he believed were named Sumiko and Taji. They stood up when he entered the room and he turned his eyes between Sumiko and Taji before making his decision.

"I just have one quick matter to finish before joining you. This will take but a moment."

With that, he was gone.

Sesshoumaru took his cell phone out and dialed the number from his memory.

"What?" Shippou snapped when he picked up the phone, much the same way that Sesshoumaru himself had done a few moments ago.

"Remember about two hundred years ago when we amused ourselves about Inuyasha possibly being reincarnated with Sango as his older sister?" he asked.

"Yeah," Shippou laughed, though unsure as to why Sesshoumaru would bring that up right now. "Oh, that was a good night. Weren't we drunk?"

Sesshoumaru silently agreed with him, it had been an interesting night to say the least. Very few saw him drunk and lived to tell about it. "More than likely. We were wrong. Inuyasha is Rin's older brother."

Silence on the other end. For a moment, Sesshoumaru thought that Shippou had fainted. "Are you serious?" he finally managed to reply. "But...I just talked to Higurashi-san! How could they possibly be-"

Sesshoumaru looked back at the room he had just left. "I have no doubts," he cut in. "The scent is too similar, and even the color of the girl's eyes is the same. Their names are Yukimura Taji and Yukimura Sumiko."

"Yukimura...that's the lady you're trying to buy out right now!" Shippou exclaimed.

"Contact Kouga," Sesshoumaru ordered with a deep frown on his face. "Things may have become very complicated."

He shut his phone off and walked back into the room, ever the air of confidence. "I apologize, just some unfinished business with my brother. Now...shall we begin?"

Taji tried very hard not to glare at Sesshoumaru, but there was something about his mannerism, and his tone that grated his nerves. He was glad now, more than any other time, that his mother refused to sell.

Sumi on the other hand was enthralled and hung on every word he said, often putting in her own two cents about what was going on. Rather than seem annoyed, Sesshoumaru would humor her in his own way. He ate his food, and spoke politely, but he kept his eyes glued to Sesshoumaru during the entire meal. Yeah, this guy with his pure white hair and yellow eyes definitely bothered him. Which was funny, because the pictures he'd seen of him showed him with black hair and brown eyes.

OoOoO

_No matter how hard she tried to remember, she just couldn't. She could see all the people's faces, and remember how the castle looked, but as to how she got there, she had no clue._

_"Sango," Inuyasha began, "can't you remember even a little bit about the castle where you fell into Naraku's trap?"_

_Sango tried not to snap at him. "As I've already said, if I did remember, I'd be returning there to get Naraku's head."_

_Miroku shook his head "Quite. Perhaps we should give up on finding the castle."_

_"Give up and do what?" Inuyasha asked bitterly._

_"Let's find Shikon fragments," Miroku stated, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "As long as we collect them, eventually, Naraku will come after our fragments." He moved over to where Sango was sitting and kneeled down so he was looking into her eyes, which startled her. "Sango... Is that okay with you, too? I'm sure you want your revenge as soon as possible, but..."_

_Sango nodded her consent. "Yeah. It's annoying, but..."_

_"I understand your feelings," he said very seriously._

_Sango's face changed and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Houshi-sama..." she pinched his skin and pried his hands off of her thighs. "What are you reaching for while you talk?"_

_Two other voices joined in. "That damn pervert. I thought he was going after her."_

"_Sango-chan will have to put up with it until she's better."_

Kaori opened her eyes and sat up quickly. The dream was incredibly fresh in her mind though. The names and faces of some of the people she had seen were blurred, but the conversation was there as strong as if she had just had it moments ago. And there was one name that she knew for certain: Sango.

She furrowed her brow and tried to remember the other names, as well as their faces, but only one came to mind.

"Houshi-sama?" she mumbled. "I don't know any houshi."

She got up and dressed, determined to talk to Taji about what she had dreamed because she couldn't help but feel that he would know exactly what she was talking about.

OoOoO

Taji, Kaori, and Kazuo walked a couple of steps behind Sumi and Yasuo on their way to school and Kaori relayed her dream to Taji and Kazuo. Kazuo had been informed of Taji's dreams the day before by Kaori. Kaori had not given many details, she had just said that they were recurring dreams that bothered him, and had left it at that.

Kazuo was now learning to what extent these dreams reached, and just how detailed they really were. He pondered in silence while Taji continued on.

"Look, I know it ain't something you hear every day, but I know these dreams are something more!" Taji insisted.

"Under normal circumstances, I would say that Kaori-san dreamed the dream because she had heard so much about yours. But," Kazuo put a hand up to silence Taji's protest before it started, "but...I, myself, had a strange dream last night with similar people."

He glanced up at the sky. "Last night I asked Kaori what was bothering you, and she told me, but she did not tell me names. Listening to your stories, I think I was dreaming of the same place, with the same people." He looked directly into Taji's eyes. "I dreamed that I had a hole in my hand and it was cut further open by some sort of youkai. And I am certain that my name was Miroku."

They all lapsed into silence. Sumi waved goodbye as she ran up the steps to her school. They moved on, still in silence, trying to think of what they were dreaming, and why they would dream the same thing.

OoOoO

"There he is," Sesshoumaru said. "But it looks as though there are others."

Shippou took one last gulp of his coffee and looked out the window. There were five people walking down the sidewalk, and he knew all of them. "Inuyasha... Miroku, Sango, Kohaku, and Rin. All of them," he whispered in awe. "And they all look normal. Kinda weird to see Sango in a skirt that short, though," he mumbled as an after thought. He glanced in Sesshoumaru's direction. "Do you think there's any way to get them to come with us without arousing their suspicions?"

"I have my ways," Sesshoumaru replied mysteriously, giving Shippou a very bad feeling.

Shippou had been up almost all night trying to figure out how to approach them, and at least why they were born in this time in particular. Somehow, he felt that their presence was not an accident, and that they tied into the story of the shikon no tama in a way that hadn't occurred to them before. When he arrived at Sesshoumaru's earlier in the morning, he had said that they would be going to see Inuyasha and would go from there.

Sumiko had left the group, which was the signal Sesshoumaru had been waiting for. He leaned forward and tapped the glass that separated the passenger area from the driver.

"Every time you get that tone, something happens that takes months of covering up. Whatever you're planning-" The car lurched into gear while he was speaking. "What the hell?! Oh no," he groaned as the limo suddenly skidded to a halt next to the three teens, who had lagged behind Kohaku.

Sesshoumaru opened the door and with his lightening fast reflexes, he grabbed Taji and yanked him into the car. Bewildered, Taji did the first instinct that came to mind and swung his fist, hitting Sesshoumaru square in the jaw, but was only rewarded with his own hand being sore. It was then that his eyes went wide and he realized who it was that had grabbed him.

Similarly, Kaori and Kazuo had leaned into the car once he was pulled in, giving Sesshoumaru the other opportunity he needed. Originally, they had not been part of the plan, but Shippou said they were the houshi and the exterminator, so they had to come along as well. He pulled the other two into the car and slammed the door. The tires squealed once more, and they were off.

Kaori and Kazuo exchanged bewildered looks before it sank in. They were being kidnapped. "Let us go!" Kaori yelled as she tried the door. It was locked.

"Shut up and sit down," Sesshoumaru ordered. "We will arrive soon."

Taji tried the door next to him, but found it locked as well. He glared daggers at Sesshoumaru. "You bastard! You said you'd stop coming after the company! I knew we couldn't trust you!"

"Taji," Kazuo said softly. "We don't want to anger anyone, just calm down."

Shippou didn't know how to act as he watched the display before him. On the one hand, he was ready to kitsune-bi Sesshoumaru's ass into the new millennium. On the other, he wanted to reach out and hug each of the people before him. Nearly 500 years...it was really them.

He listened to the constant bickering between the group, yelling at Sesshoumaru, and at him as well, before deciding he'd really like to kitsune-bi all their asses. Instead, he swallowed and closed his eyes. He counted slowly to ten and then opened them again. "Sesshoumaru ...you didn't need to kidnap them, I think they would have come along if we had just told them what happened."

Sesshoumaru smirked and settled back into his seat. "Perhaps, but its' been a long time since this one has had the pleasure of seeing my little brother give me his death glare."

Kazuo, Kaori, and Taji exchanged confused glances. "What the hell are you talking about?"

To be continued...

Japanese:

Houshi: Monk

Okaa-san: Mom

Onii-chan: big brother, also used to address someone you are close to. Can also be used to address a male whose name you don't know.

Onee-chan: big sister also used to address someone you are close to. Can also be used to address a female whose name you don't know.

Once again the exact wording of the dream comes from scanlations.

Thank you for reading! I hope you're enjoying this so far. The build-up is going to take a couple of chapters, but once we get rolling, we'll be rolling! Special thanks to those who have reviewed, favorited, and followed! 3

-Ginzuishou


	3. Fate? Or Destiny?

Thank you for continuing to read this, especially those who review, add to their favorites or to update lists. ^_^ I do appreciate it and hope you enjoy.

Just for the record:

Yukimura Taji - Inuyasha

Yukimura Sumiko - Rin

Miyamoto Kaori - Sango

Kiyoraka Kazuo - Miroku

Kiyoraka Yasuo - Kohaku

Rating: T

Disclaimer: The wonderful characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.

**The Path of Destiny**

**Chapter 3**

**Fate? Or Destiny?**

Yasuo heard the squealing of tires and turned around quickly, only to see a car fading into the distance. He did not, however, see his brother and their friends walking behind him.

He furrowed his brow and blinked in confusion. "Where did they go?"

OoOoO

The car ride was silent for many miles after the initial protesting stopped. Sesshoumaru was looking over a portfolio of different stocks, while the three teenagers glared at him and Shippou. Though they still had no idea who Shippou was.

"Look," Shippou began, breaking the strained silence, "if I had known this is what Sesshoumaru had planned, I wouldn't have even come to identify you."

Kaori stopped glaring long enough to look puzzled. "Identify us?"

"Yeah. Well," he nervously ran his hand through his red hair, "too late now. You're here so we'll explain everything once we get to the compound. In the mean time, I'm Shippou." He focused his green eyes on Taji. "I know you're Yukimura Taji but...I don't know the rest of your names."

Kaori gave Shippou a long look. He was short, probably a few inches shorter than her. His hair was an orange-red and his eyes were green. He had an exotic look about him, but there was something in his eyes, and his grin that made him seem very...child-like. Innocent. Except the red hair. He had to be in a gang. "Miyamoto Kaori."

Kazuo looked at Kaori, slightly stunned that she had given her name so quickly. Taji was more than shocked. He almost opened his mouth, to yell at her, but one look from her silenced him and Kazuo. Kazuo cast one last glance between the two men before sighing. From what he knew about Sesshoumaru, he was one of the most powerful men in the world, if he wanted to know his name, he could find out in other ways besides asking. Asking was just quicker. "Kiyoraka Kazuo."

They all continued to glare at him, and Shippou wanted to laugh.

The car pulled up to the gate of a large estate, and despite the situation the friends had to gawk at the vastness of it. It was a large western style manor, completely white with gold trimmings, with gardens that expanded much further than any of them could see. There were people wandering all over the grounds, but as the car passed by, every last one of them bowed.

Shippou rolled his eyes, and Sesshoumaru pretended not to notice it. The others just couldn't help their slack jawed look.

OoOoO

Shippou gave brief descriptions of each area they went through, even explaining that this was just the main house on the compound. There were several small guesthouses that completed a square around a large plot of land that was left as a garden and small forest. It was one of the largest parts of Tokyo that was owned by a single person, and that wasn't developed into some type of commercial building.

Their eyes and ears weren't quick enough to digest everything as they were rushed from room to room before finally ending up in a large room that had none of the comforts as the others.

It was bare and oddly white except for a round table full of chairs. Shippou motioned, and they sat, still nervous and worried.

"Okay, look," Shippou said taking a folder from an assistant, "I promise that we will let you go, you can even call the police on us or whatever, but you have to look at a picture. Just one picture, of one girl, and if you can say you don't know her, then you can leave."

The three exchanged dubious looks. It seemed too easy, but they agreed to it. The offer was good, and besides, what else could they do? "What happens if we know her?" Taji asked suspiciously.

Shippou smiled, a little sadly, a little proudly. "Then I promise you, you won't want to leave." He reached into the folder and pulled out a large gloss picture. He was careful not to damage it, and placed it down on the table so that the teens could take a look at it, and within moments, the looks on their faces said it all.

"Kagome..." Taji whispered, reaching out to touch the picture. "B-but how?!" he demanded, eyes wide and questioning. "She's only in my dreams! I've only seen her there and-"

"This is Kagome?" Kaori questioned. "I saw her in my dream last night!"

"I did as well," Kazuo mumbled, barely audible to the others.

Shippou sat down across from them, a small smile on his features. He had a feeling that they would remember. They had always promised that they would never forget. "Don't you find it strange that not only do I have a picture of the girl in your dreams, but you're also all dreaming about the same girl?" None of them answered, so he continued. "You're also dreaming about each other, right? With different names and in a completely different place."

"What do you have to do with any of this?" Taji snapped. He folded his arms.

"You know, I think I should be asking you that," Shippou said softly. He sighed and with a small pop, he was gone, but in his place was a small child wearing strange clothes and with a fluffy orange tail. "Well?" His voice was still the same. "Do I look familiar?"

The three were dumbfounded until finally Kazuo gained his voice and let out what could have been a very feminine shriek. They all jumped up out of their seats and tried to bolt for the door, only to be stopped by a very pretty young woman.

Kaori looked at the woman, relieved that there was someone there, hopefully to save them. "Please! You have to help us! We've been kidnapped, and that man...he-he..." she trailed off when she saw Taji pointing down at her butt, to where her tail was swishing back and forth. Upon closer inspection, they could see long claws and sharp fangs on her as well.

"What are you people?!" Taji demanded, glancing between the now small Shippou and the new woman. "What the fuck do you want with us?"

The woman laughed and leaned against the wall. "Yeah, he's Inuyasha all right." She was still chuckling. "And it sounds to me like Shippou didn't tell you what we are. Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you," she smiled. "My name is Ayame, I'm a wolf youkai." She jerked her head to Shippou, who popped back into his real age, which now included a tail and slightly pointed ears. "Shippou is a kitsune."

"I still don't get it, if you're youkai, not that they're real or anything," Taji said in a rush, "why would you want us? What do dreams have to do with youkai?"

Ayame walked forward, and was pleasantly surprised when all three of them didn't wince, or try to scoot away from her. "Youkai have to do with everything in this case." She handed them each a thick folder with the words "The Bone Eater's Well" inscribed on it. "Read this. We're waiting for my mate to get here, and then we'll sit down and see how much you believe."

"Mate?" Kaori whispered softly, confused by the word.

"What about school?" Kazuo asked, worried for missing his second day.

Ayame continued to smile. "It's been taken care of."

OoOoO

Kouga undid his tie when he entered Sesshoumaru's overly large house. He hated the mansion for its western style, and its too-new scent. Even after all these years, he still preferred a cave to a four-sided house. He resisted the urge to growl at all the other youkai servants who were walking up to take his coat. That is, until the scent hit him. "That son of a bitch!" he exclaimed, realizing why he was there.

The servants and staff weren't startled when he suddenly took off to the study, where he could smell Sesshoumaru at. Even without his Shikon Shards, he was still faster than most creatures and made it to the study at a record speed - even for him.

Without preamble, he threw open the door and marched into the room. It wasn't a 'normal' study by any means. There was a desk, bookshelves and even some comfortable chairs scattered through the room. However, the bookshelves contained volumes upon volumes of youkai stories and records and the chairs were several different shapes to accommodate several different youkai.

And of course, two of the walls were covered with monitors that kept 24-hour surveillance on different parts of the city and the world. The monitors were usually used to keep watch over particularly dangerous youkai and the different youkai governments. Today, Sesshoumaru had them tuned into something much more important, something that could change the entire world if done improperly.

The events unfolding both at the Higurashi shrine, and the ones taking place in his own home.

Over the centuries, it had been determined that they would need to protect Kagome before she went down the well, and the theory had been proven a week into her life. A fool youkai had gotten it into his head that since he could sense the Shikon no tama, he should have it. Shippou had been near her home in hopes of catching a glimpse of Kagome as a child when he had figured out that the youkai was there. He disposed of it quickly, but the fear was now there and Kagome, though she never knew it, didn't go anywhere without an escort.

"What the hell is Inukoro doing here?" Kouga demanded, pointing to the screen where he could clearly see Taji, Kaori, and Kazuo reading the folders, occasionally pointing things out to each other. "Why is he alive?"

Sesshoumaru continued to watch the screen. "Probably to protect his woman, again."

Kouga growled very quietly, but tried to keep his cool. "Right...so why's he HERE?"

'I am ringed by fools,' Sesshoumaru thought bitterly.

OoOoO

Taji was the last to close his folder. He had to read several passages twice, or three times even, in order to fully grasp that what was happening, what HE had done. He, as Inuyasha, had done these things. He had protected Kikyou, punched Shippou, threatened Miroku and...possibly loved Kagome.

Shippou saw that they were all done, and stood. He cleared his throat gently, which caught their attention, despite the thoughtful mood they were in. "Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango...But you're not at the same time. I know it's strange, but, this had to have happened for a reason." He picked up the photo of Kagome and slid it back into the folder.

"We're in her era now," Kazuo stated softly, "aren't we?"

"Yeah," Shippou confirmed. "She's been gone for a couple of days now, which means that she's probably fought Yura of the Hair, and Tetsusaiga's about ready to be found."

Ayame stepped forward, instinctively smoothing the crease in her jeans. "We should probably wait for the others to get here before filling you in on more. Shockingly enough, it wasn't Shippou who figured all this out."

"Oh?" Kaori said. "Then who did?"

"That would be this Sesshoumaru," Sesshoumaru announced as he appeared at the door.

"Well, long time no see, Inukoro," another unfamiliar voice said from behind Sesshoumaru.

Taji didn't even hesitate and he stood up. "Kouga!" He hadn't really felt hatred towards the wolf-youkai while reading about him, but hearing his voice...that changed everything. Something inside of him awakened. Something ancient even.

Kouga was dressed in a pair of slacks and a dress shirt; quite different from his preferred attire. He looked older, almost mature, but there was a look in his eyes that made him seem young. "Long time no see," he said casually. "You've looked better though."

A small growl escaped from the back of Taji's throat and he took a step forward. Shippou grabbed him, and Ayame grabbed Kouga by the ear.

"Don't even THINK about it," Ayame hissed.

"You can get him back later," Shippou reassured Taji.

"If this immaturity is through with," Sesshoumaru said with a touch of bitterness to his tone.

Still glaring, the reacquainted 'enemies' sat down as far from each other as possible. "And what did you exactly 'figure out?'" Taji demanded.

Sesshoumaru sat down, regal as always. "I have spent the better part of the past 300 years studying reincarnation, as I assumed we may deal with it at one point. I did not think we would deal with it in this manner. Studies, reports, experiments, there is nothing for sure that points to someone remembering their past lives, or how it could happen."

"But you had a feeling it would happen?" Kazuo asked.

"Yeah," Kouga answered. "After World War II we all started taking an interest in it and were finally able to find something on it. Reincarnation has happened before, it happens everyday, but unless you have something to complete from the past you ain't gonna know."

Taji rolled his eyes. "Translation: we screwed up, didn't we?"

"Not so much," Shippou replied. "Look at it like an epic poem, in reality it seems to never end, though the time it is actually covering is a blink in history. Kinda like this." Shippou sighed.

Kaori frowned, confused by the way this was heading. "I don't understand, how could you have known we would recognize the picture of Kagome?"

"We didn't," Sesshoumaru supplied. "We assumed that whether you remembered or not you would react to the picture. Since you were reborn in this era, it was only natural to assume that it was to complete what happened in the Sengoku Jidai."

The teens exchanged looks and thought back on how the 'book' they had read ended. There was no ending. Kagome went home, they never saw her again. That was it. The Shikon survived to return to Kagome's era and after that, who knew?

"So," Taji said gruffly, "you got an idea or something?"

"You should know about what has happened." Sesshoumaru made sure he paused before continuing. If they wanted out, now was the time. The teens said nothing. "A week after the miko Kagome was born, her home was attacked by a youkai. The attacks have dwindled throughout the years, mostly because the other lesser youkai now fear to go there. But, there's been a sudden increase in the number of youkai surrounding the Higurashi shrine."

Kaori considered this for a moment. She really wanted to go home, bury herself in her bed and sleep. When she woke up, she would find out that it was just a dream. But another part of her kept her from giving into the new fear. Some part of her that was stronger than she had ever realized. "Which means that Kagome is in more danger."

"Worse than that," Shippou countered, pulling more papers from his folder. These were of all the different youkai now known to be in the area of the shrine. "It means that she's in more danger, and we can't help her."

"What! Why not?" Taji demanded, not bothering to glance at the paper Shippou passed his way. He had quickly adjusted to the idea of being Inuyasha. It seemed normal...natural. He didn't argue with his mind or heart, both just accepted this new knowledge as fact and moved on.

Shippou shifted his gaze to Taji, and he felt saddened as he spoke. "Because, Inuyasha will know our scents, especially in the next two months, and if he senses us and seeks any of us out, the world as we know it could be destroyed."

"A time paradox." Kazuo felt like hitting someone, anyone as he realized that. Realized what they were fighting against.

"Exactly," Ayame sighed. "So now, we need a way to continue to protect the Shikon no tama and the shrine while Inuyasha and Kagome are back in the Sengoku Jidai, but without leaving a trace of our youki and scents there. Until yesterday, we were stumped. Very few humans are up to the task, you see."

Sesshoumaru took over after that. "That's where you come in."

Kaori, Kazuo, and Taji exchanged looks, but it was Kazuo who stated what they were thinking. "I've got a bad feeling about this..."

OoOoO

The door closed with a quiet click, and Taji slipped his shoes off. In his haze of thoughts, he forgot to call out to his mother and sister. He dropped his bag on the ground and headed straight for his bedroom. He passed by his family, who were sitting on the couch watching TV, but didn't stop until his mother called after him.

"Taji?"

Taji had his foot on the first step of the staircase when she called out. Sighing, he trudged back to the living room, and forced himself to look less tired than he really was. "Yeah, I'm home 'kaa-san."

"How was your trip to the temple?" his mother inquired. She stood up and walked towards him, a frown on her face. "You were gone longer than I thought you would be, and you look flushed. Are you okay?"

Taji had almost forgotten the cover story Ayame had come up with, and he didn't realize she had somehow told his mother as well. "I'm fine, it was fine. I'm just...tired."

"Well," Naoko said with a smile, "at least you can sleep easier now, knowing that Nishiyama-san isn't after our company. And business is booming since he tried to buy us out! We'll have a good summer trip this year! Maybe to the beach! Would you like that, Sumi?"

Sumi bobbed her head up and down. "Yeah! But I want Sesshoumaru-san to come with us! He was so nice, wasn't he, Onii-chan? Wasn't he?" she asked, a slight pleading in her voice.

"Yeah," Taji mumbled. "He was really nice. I'm gonna go to bed. G'nite."

Taji collapsed on his head and buried his face in his hands with a loud groan. Ever since he had left the home, his mind had been bombarded with images, and his heart with feelings, all of it not his own.

He closed his eyes, hoping that some rest would calm the rush of the images. Maybe something in them would give him some insight as to what he needed to do. The images did not slow or waver and Taji soon found himself faced with a new one as he drifted off to sleep.

_He ran as fast as he could to the fire, hoping he was in time. Praying that they weren't gone...that they were still alive. He stopped outside of it for a moment and took in the damage before running in and finding them all on the floor._

_Shippou had set up a barrier with his kitsune-bi and Kirara was laying inside of it, despite a smoldering timber that was lying on her. He rushed forward to Kirara first and pulled the lumber off of her, confirming that she was fine._

_He turned his attention to the other youkai, who had tears in his eyes and was looking more scared than ever._

_"I... Inuyasha..."_

_To say he was proud of the child would be an understatement. Inuyasha didn't know that Shippou had it in him. He could see Kagome and the others lying there, unmoving. "Shippou... you, protected everyone from the flames with your fire…"_

_No sooner had the words left his mouth than Shippou burst into tears. "They've all stopped breathing!"_

_Panic gripped Inuyasha's heart and he hugged Kagome close to his chest. He tried to listen for her heart over the roaring flames. "Kagome..."_

_Myouga appeared, as though from nowhere. As normal. "You mustn't shake her around, Inuyasha-sama," he instructed._

_"Myouga-jijii?"_

_"Anyway..." Myouga said as he moved closer to the bodies. "Take everyone to an open area...At this rate, I'll only be able to offer my condolences," he sighed._

_Inuyasha got them out as soon as he was physically able to and laid them out away from the temple. He crouched close to Kagome and listened to Shippou as he cried._

_None of them were moving._

_"It's all my fault," Shippou cried. "Because we ran away to this temple."_

_Inuyasha shook his head. "Stop crying, Shippou. I..." He punched the ground as hard as he could, trying to put his pain into it, only to find that it wasn't enough. "If only I'd figured out who Renkotsu really was!"_

_He grabbed Kagome and held her as close to him as he could. "Kagome! Forgive me...Forgive me!" he whispered desperately._

_"Can't...breathe..."_

_Inuyasha pulled her away from his chest just enough to look at her face, and see her eyes were open. "Ka-"_

_"Kagome!" Shippou exclaimed._

_"You're..." he whispered incredibly._

_"My head's spinning," Kagome moaned._

_Inuyasha couldn't hear anything after that, he knew that the others were awake now, too, and he almost smacked Miroku when he heard something about giving birth. He continued to hold Kagome as tightly as he could until she broke him out of his trance._

_"I'm sorry Inuyasha," she whispered to him. "To make you worry..."_

_"Idiot!" he yelled at her, gripping her tighter. "What're you apologizing for?!"_

_Kagome's eyes went wide suddenly, and Inuyasha knew why. He set her back on the ground, and turned away from her, knowing it was too late for her to not know._

_"Inuyasha...?" she whispered._

Once again, Taji opened his eyes and sat up quickly. Once again, the dream was fresh in his mind; so fresh he could feel the tears running down his cheeks. He threw off his covers and ran to the window, hoping for some fresh air.

The feeling wouldn't leave him. The overwhelming loss followed by tremendous joy, and even disappointment that he had been unable to protect them. Deep inside of him, he could feel something, something that probably should have died with Inuyasha.

A movement caught his eye and he was on alert immediately. He relaxed just as quickly when he saw that it was only Kaori, climbing out of her second story window and heading over to his house. She stopped mid-way through the yards and looked at Kazuo's house, a wondering look on her face. Kazuo stepped out from behind his house and she crossed the street to talk to him.

Taji watched her for a minute before giving up. He dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and headed downstairs.

By the time he got there, Kazuo and Kaori were already discussing the dreams they had just had. They didn't stop when Taji approached, and continued with great fervor in their speech. Kaori had dreamed of her first encounter with Naraku and Inuyasha, and how quickly Sango's life had been changed. Kazuo had dreamt of the first time he had seen Inuyasha as a human, and how close it had come to being the last with the Peach Man. Taji told his dream as well, but each one had a great impact on the others and just confirmed what they had feared: they had to accept the youkai's proposal.

"Ya know," Taji said with a slight laugh in his voice, "it's kinda funny if you think about it. From what I can remember, Kagome had no clue that she was Kikyou's reincarnation, and never wanted to remember her life. So, when Kikyou died, she completely sealed away her life and her memories in her soul. For us, it's the opposite. Inuyasha had such a strong desire to protect Kagome that he forced me to remember so that I could protect her in his stead."

"We can't protect her just because that's what they wanted," Kaori interjected. "We could die, and we don't even know who she is."

"That's not true. We know all about her," Kazuo countered. "We are remembering the life that she led in the past, and how she shaped who we were. She shaped who we were, and those people shaped the people we are now. I think that if we were not worthy of protecting her, we would not have remembered. More than that, if we didn't want to protect her, we wouldn't continue to remember.

"Maybe we aren't the people we used to be," he continued, "but that doesn't mean that our fate or destiny has changed."

"Fate and destiny are the same things," Kaori whispered while she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to fight the cold outside and inside.

Kazuo shook his head. "No, I don't believe so. Fate is what we will do; destiny is who we will be. Something is fated to happen; people are destined to be together. It is our destiny to meet like this over and over, and our fate to help protect the Shikon no Tama."

"It was the same for Kagome," Taji said softly. "It was her fate to meet Inuyasha and seek the jewel. It was her destiny to..." He laughed suddenly. "She gave up her last year of junior high in order to save all of our asses, and make it so we could be born as we were in this era...I think we owe her enough to make sure she lives to do that." He scoffed and shook his head. "Besides, I looked at the timeline that they've put together already and it's off. They haven't just met Yura of thee hair. They've also had to deal with the stupid cursed Noh mask, which I have no fucking clue how Shippou missed that. Soon that little girl ghost brat, Mayu, will start trying to kill Kagome. I-Inuyasha eventually helps her, but if we're going through with this we'll have to keep a look out for that."

Kaori cast her eyes downwards. "I used to wish everyday that life was more exciting. I'll never do that again."

To be continued...

And we're getting into the meat of the story now. What will they do, why should they do it, all the fun stuff now! Thanks, as always, for reading and your support.

-Ginzuishou


	4. Meeting Kagome

Thank you so much to those who have reviewed, favorited, or followed! Your support means a lot to me! So far this is looking to be a long story, longer than I thought it would be. I've written more than 10 chapters of it already and have planned more than I thought I would. Hopefully, it all lives up to what I hope for it!

Just for the record:

Yukimura Taji - Inuyasha

Yukimura Sumiko - Rin

Miyamoto Kaori - Sango

Kiyoraka Kazuo - Miroku

Kiyoraka Yasuo - Kohaku

Rating: PG-13, because Inuyasha's got a potty mouth

Disclaimer: Not mine.

**The Path of Destiny**

**Chapter 4**

**Meeting Kagome**

About one month passed.

They had agreed to help and to protect Kagome and since then they had remembered much of their former lives. Slowly, they had begun to understand what it was they were doing, and why. It hadn't been easy, or pain free for that matter, but the three of them were more than willing to learn.

Their families had been a different story.

It didn't take much time to convince them that the story was true, but some members took it better than others did. Naoko had taken the news very well, not saying much, but nodding her consent to Taji to do what he had to do.

The Kiyoraka family was different. At first, Kazuo was going to tell his parents that Yasuo was Kohaku's reincarnation, but their reaction to him coupled with the complicated nature of Kohaku, convinced him to keep his mouth closed. When Yasuo started to remember, that would be the right time. They had refused to accept it, and even tried to leave until Shippou stopped them. It took longest to convince them.

The Miyamoto's were strong and fully supported their daughter in her decision. They agreed it was dangerous, but that she had handled everything before and could do the same with this challenge. Of course, they said nothing of Sango and Miroku's relationship because all had agreed it best to keep that as under-wraps as possible.

They quickly agreed that all of them needed to be much closer to the Higurashi residence. Even those who had not taken the news well understood that and agreed.

Sumi, especially, was happy that she would be getting to see 'Sesshoumaru-sama' more often, and that she would get to see 'Kagome-sama' as well. Sumi, apparently, had been having the dreams for almost as long as Taji. She claimed that one day she had felt something tug in her mind. "It was like my soul was telling me I had to find Sesshoumaru-sama! And so I did!"

Each of them had started using fragrant soaps and even mild perfumes at Sesshoumaru's insistence. He said that they needed to cover their scent as much as possible, and these days that meant making it as artificial as possible. True, they didn't smell exactly as they had, Taji remembered how similar Kikyou and Kagome had smelled, but it was similar enough that they might raise suspicions if they were too close to Inuyasha at some point. Sumi and Kaori had taken to it quite naturally, convincing two young men to use a scented shampoo had taken a little threatening.

They were moved within two days, but not to completely separate homes. Rather, all three families now lived in a large compound, the same one where the three had been taken to find out about their past lives. The land was vast, and each family still had their own area apart from all the others, for privacy.

It was close to Kagome's home and to her school, but it also was perfect for people who were training with weapons. There were spacious grounds with youkai and humans who were proficient to teach the techniques needed. However, Sesshoumaru, Shippou, Ayame, and Kouga were their main teachers, much to Taji's disgust.

Their training had begun immediately, and it quickly became obvious that their talents, like Kagome's with the bow, had not strayed despite their rebirth. They needed to polish the skills, but hours of work a night was enough to do that. Because of this, their bodies and minds quickly adapted to the new training. Quicker than most people would have.

When they transferred, all of them had ended up in different classes. It wasn't a problem, until the first day of school when Kazuo realized he was in Kagome's class and that no matter how little she was there she would eventually recognize him.

There was really no way to solve the problem beyond hoping Kagome didn't recognize him. However, Kaori had an idea. Normally Kazuo wore his hair very similar to how he wore it in his past life as Miroku, loose and a little long in the back. Trimming it up and slicking it back gave him a more mature look, and with the slightly different shape of his face unless you were looking for Miroku you probably weren't going to find him. Kaori also took steps to conceal her identity and cut her hair to her shoulders, bleaching it to a light brown.

Taji had been a problem, he refused to cut his hair, or color it. Not even a fight with Sesshoumaru had changed his resolve. Shippou had tried holding him down so Kouga could cut it, and he had ended up being overpowered by the human.

Taji's hair had stayed long. Though he agreed on one thing: Kagome would immediately recognize him with his sideburns and he integrated them into the rest of his hair. By cutting them.

OoOoO

Naoko set out the breakfast with a sigh. She had eaten long ago, and Sumiko was all ready done with her food, what she could eat of it. Now, she was just waiting for Taji to come down stairs.

Naoko looked towards her youngest child's room with another sigh. Sumiko was bed ridden today. She had caught a slight cold, which had quickly spread to her lungs and made her too ill for school. She had tried to go to classes, or at least get out of bed, but couldn't find the strength.

The sliding of the door brought her out of her thoughts and she nodded politely as Sesshoumaru stepped over the threshold. He looked at the table, which was set for only one person and sniffed the air. "Where is Rin?"

Naoko had gotten used to Sesshoumaru calling Sumiko 'Rin'. He refused to call her anything else, and Sumi didn't seem to mind. A part of her wanted to reprimand him though, to remind him that she only carried Rin's soul, she wasn't Rin.

Instead, she just answered, "She's sick today. It's a bad flu, I guess. Well," she said softly, "she should be better soon."

"'KAA-SAN! YOU DIDN'T WAKE ME UP!" a voice suddenly yelled from up the stairs.

Naoko smiled and rolled her eyes at the inquisitive look Sesshoumaru was giving her. "I did so, Taji! Now get down here, you'll be late for school!" She began placing the food on the table and gestured towards a chair. "Would you like something to eat, Sesshoumaru-san?"

"We're coming in!" Kaori announced as she opened the door. "Good morning!" she greeted Naoko. Her gaze traveled to Sesshoumaru and she nodded her greeting.

Kazuo followed Kaori in and bowed to Naoko. "Yukimura-san, you're looking lovely today. Oh?" his tone changed as soon as he saw who else was in the kitchen. Suddenly, he sounded much like the monk he had been. "And what are you doing here, Sesshoumaru?"

Taji came running down the stairs and sprinted to the table. He was pulling his school jacket on and quickly set to work eating, not glancing up at anyone.

Sesshoumaru watched the display for a few moments before returning to the woman's question. "No, but thank you. I only came by to make sure that my idiot half brother," he ignored the protest from Kaori that they were no longer related, "and his friends knew to come down to my office after school today."

After swallowing the bit of omelet that she had stolen from Taji, Kaori probed Sesshoumaru for information. "Why do we need to be at your office?"

"There are things we need to discuss," he said shortly. He cast a glance at his watch and frowned. "I have an early meeting."

"That doesn't answer my question, Sesshoumaru," Kaori pointed out as she shifted her bag, unconsciously becoming defensive.

Sesshoumaru, however, took notice. "There is no need to be worried, taijiya, this Sesshoumaru has nothing sinister planned."

"Yet," Taji muttered. He escaped a glare from his mother as he cleared his dishes from the table.

Sesshoumaru made his way to the door, but paused just before opening it. "I will send a doctor to treat Rin later today. Be expecting him."

Naoko didn't have a chance to protest, and knew that even if she had, he would never have listened to her. Instead, she just smiled knowingly at the closed door and went to do the dishes Taji had just cleared. She saw the looks on the teen's faces and elaborated. "Sumiko's sick again," she explained. "She'll be fine in a couple of days, but..." she trailed off.

"I still can't believe Sesshoumaru would be that attached to a human," Taji said in disbelief. He then realized what time it was. "Ah, SHIT!"

"Yukimura TAJI! Watch your mouth!" Naoko snapped. She had noticed it over the past few weeks. Taji, who had always had a bit of a sailor's mouth, had begun to have even more of one. His speech pattern was changing, but only she seemed to notice it, or be disturbed by it.

They yelled a quick goodbye to Naoko and took off down the road, hoping that they wouldn't be late to their classes.

"You know," Kazuo yelled as they ran, a boyish grin appearing on his face, "this does remind me of old times!"

"What? Running to school?" Kaori called back, since she was slightly ahead of him.

Kazuo pushed his speed a bit more and caught up to her. "No, just the fact that we always seemed to be running."

"Yeah, usually to save Inuyasha!" Kaori shot back, grinning.

Taji just glared at his friends and picked up speed, leaving them both in the dust and ensuring that at least he would make it to school on time.

OoOoO

Kazuo wiped the sweat from his brow and grinned in triumph. He plopped into his seat just as the final bell rang and had to congratulate himself. Despite Taji leaving himself and Kaori to, literally, eat his dust, they had even managed to beat him to class because he was stopped by a first year that had a love letter.

'Ah, justice does serve her purpose.'

He reached to pull out a pen and paper from his bag so that he could get ready for the lecture, but stopped when he noticed that the seat on his right was filled. He sat up quickly, and had to force himself not to gape at the girl who filled the seat. Kagome. There were two reasons for this, the first being that this was only the second time he had seen her in this lifetime. The first time had been for only a few hours because she had been late for class. The second reason was that she was not wearing her school uniform, but rather a sweater and a skirt.

Her friends were fussing over her, despite the bell having rung, and he listened in to their conversation.

"If your uniform got bloody why are you even here, Kagome?" one of the girls asked.

Immediately Kazuo's eyes widened and he became concerned. To his knowledge, there wasn't a battle that Kagome was ever hurt that badly that she had lost a uniform. The worst has been in the Oni's rock, but that wouldn't happen for months now.

"Yeah!" another chimed in. "You shouldn't even be here if you're vomiting blood!"

"Vomiting blood!" Kazuo exclaimed before he could help it. The four girls faced him and he smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to listen in, but, I could not help it."

Kagome smiled and turned in her seat so she could see him. There was no recognition in her eyes. "No, its okay...Kiyoraka-kun, isn't it?"

"Yes," Kazuo smiled, relieved at the friendliness, but non-recognition in her eyes, "I've heard from the class that you've been very sick lately, Higurashi-san. Are you sure you can be at school today?"

Her smile seemed to falter, and it became semi-fake, a smile that Kazuo knew from his dreams. He had seen it often when she was trying to hide something. "I'm fine to be at school today. Nothing wrong here."

Her friends seemed to know the tone as well, and immediately changed the subject. "Ne, ne, Kiyoraka-kun, you transferred in after the semester started, isn't that a bit strange?"

It was Kazuo's turn to become nervous and he coughed. "Well, that is-"

The door slid open and their homeroom teacher walked into the room, silencing all of them. Class began and Kazuo tried to search his memory, to pinpoint exactly when Kagome had traveled back, and when blood had been on her clothes. She seemed upset, which didn't help to narrow down the different possibilities.

"IN THAT CASE, I'LL NEVER FORGIVE HIM!"

The sound of Kagome's voice snapped Kazuo from his thoughtful state. He blinked in surprise at Kagome, who had just slapped her hands on her desk and yelled out. She looked incredibly embarrassed and turned to their teacher, who had stopped between her and Kazuo.

"Higurashi, go stand in the hall."

Kazuo winced at the tone of his voice. Kagome, though, bowed her head and muttered an apology before hurrying outside. He made a mental note to give her his notes later. Looking at his paper, though, he realized that would be impossible since he hadn't taken any notes all day.

Sighing, he leaned on his hands and looked out the window. 'Never forgive him? She was probably talking about Inuyasha,' he pondered. 'But never forgive him for what?' There were very few things that Kagome every left the Sengoku Jidai for because they were unforgivable. And only one where she had been forced to leave by him….

"HE STOLE THE JEWEL!"

Kazuo realized a fraction of a second later what he had done and stood up and walked out the door, where his teacher was pointing.

He could see that Kagome was lost in thought again, but quickly looked up when he came outside. He took a spot next to her and she smiled, but dared not to speak. She had heard him yell. He offered a smile back, which quickly turned to a chuckle. Kagome giggled and the two finished their class period outside, silently laughing at the situation.

OoOoO

Kaori walked out of class as quickly as she could when the lunch bell rang. She was hoping that she was fast enough to make it to the roof before she ended up sharing her lunch with Kazuo again, since he never seemed to bring his. Kaori slid the door open and was about ready to break towards the door down the hall, when she spotted two familiar faces.

Kagome and Kazuo were smiling at each other, and laughing about something. She stood there, trying to measure Kagome up, see if it was really her. She had to stop because Kagome opened the door and went into the classroom, waving cheerfully to Kazuo.

Gaping, Kaori crossed the hall and pointed to the classroom, which caused Kazuo to smile, and then frown. "We need to talk, before Taji sees her." Kazuo didn't wait for a response and pulled her to the side. In the rush, he managed to open the supply closet and shoved her and then himself inside.

"Kazuo," Kaori warned, her voice deadly. "If you try anything, and I mean anything, I will make certain that you will be unable to attend any high school in this country."

In response, Kazuo simply sighed. "I'm not doing this for that, I have other ways of getting that anyway..." he trailed off, lost in his thoughts, but snapped back when he heard the unmistakable sound of Kaori cracking her knuckles. "Anyway. Kagome-sama," Kaori noted his use of the honorific, "is back in this era for a few days. I think this is right after the battle with Sesshoumaru, when Naraku tricked him." He frowned, trying to piece together his thoughts.

Kaori knew what he was talking about. Sango hadn't been there, but both Taji and Kazuo had talked to her about that incident. "So she'll be here for a few days?" Kaori said softly. "This gives us a chance, doesn't it? We can get to know her, become her friends and..." she didn't finish her sentence as Sesshoumaru's warning came back to her.

"No, we can't can we?"

Kazuo nodded. "If we get too close to her, Inuyasha may smell us on her. Our scents aren't completely covered, despite all the perfumed soaps we use."

"And reincarnations smell similar," Kaori sighed. "Okay, so we can't get close enough to be her friends, but it was nice to see her." Kazuo didn't respond. Kaori picked up the nearest object, a dustpan, and hit him in the head with it. "Houshi-sama!" she snapped, not aware of the change in how she addressed him.

Kazuo rubbed his now sore head and swore. "Did you have to hit me that hard?" he wondered.

"Did it help jar some of your brain cells?" Kaori countered, pointing towards where his hand now rest, on her shoulder.

"Ah, see, it is a cursed hand," he joked. The light-hearted atmosphere faded just as quickly as Kazuo's laugh and he spoke what he had been thinking. "I don't think we should let Taji see Kagome-sama just yet."

"What?" Kaori demanded. "But, she's all he's dreamed about for months now! We can't deny him if he wants to see her."

Leaning against the shelves, Kazuo folded his arms. "Think about it this way, Kaori. Inuyasha cared for Kagome more than he could even admit, and once the well closed, he never saw her again. As far as we know, he died not knowing her feelings. This has been passed on to Taji, who now dreams of this young woman so often that he must be confused. If he sees Kagome-sama at this time, it could be disastrous."

There was a pause before Kaori was able to put together what he was saying. "You mean he could love her or hate her."

Kazuo nodded, serious about the possibility. "So we are agreed then? We can't stop him from seeing her, but we can try to prevent it." Kaori sighed, but nodded her agreement with him. "Good. Now," his voice and mood changed as quickly as the seasons, "let's go eat some of your mother's wonderful rice and fried shrimp!"

Before Kaori could yell at him for not bringing his own lunch, Kazuo had already turned toward the door and started opening it. However, the knob would not turn, no matter how hard he tried. He gulped and looked up at the ceiling, silently asking what he had done to deserve this.

OoOoO

"And with that, Oda Nobunaga attacked the monks of..." the teacher droned on, quickly losing Taji's interest. Everyone knew how this story ended, only a moron didn't. The monks all died and Nobunaga gained more strength and then...Taji didn't care what happened.

'Besides,' he thought bitterly, 'it's not like I lived through any of that. Not at all. Wonder what people would think of all the re-writing that's been done of history?' he pondered. Quickly though, he decided he didn't care and continued to let his mind wander.

Thoughts of the past plagued him day and night. He had asked Kaori and Kazuo about it, but both of them said that their memories were slowing down, and many were choosing to remain hidden. It seemed that Sango and Miroku didn't want to give too much of life after Kagome away to their reincarnations.

Inuyasha didn't seem to care, and Taji's thoughts and dreams were of everything from his mother's scent to the day Sango and Miroku were officially married. Something he knew that neither of them remembered - but knew had happened.

He cracked a smile. Kagome would enjoy-

He stopped his train of thought as soon as it began. Her again. Somehow, he always ended up thinking about HER. He had never even seen her, never heard her and she was always on his mind! He growled softly under his breath, not realizing what he was doing. In all honesty, he didn't even notice the changes he had been undergoing since he had accepted the responsibility of his past.

The bell rang, signaling that lunch had started and Taji sighed. "Finally," he muttered under his breath. He grabbed his lunch from his bag and headed outside and up the stairs that were across the hall from his room. He didn't care that he should have waited for them, but instead got to work on his lunch.

Kazuo always forgot his, and if Taji didn't eat quickly, he'd end up sharing. His food was gone in minutes and he frowned. Normally Kazuo was here by now, and Kaori was yelling at him...

He waited until half way through the lunch period before starting out to find them. He poked his head into all the classrooms and didn't see any of them. He had come to Kazuo's class and was about to open the door when he heard a shuffling from across the hall. He let his hand drop and strolled towards the door, listening carefully.

He could just barely make out the sound of two people arguing, and a grin lit up his face. He could catch the words 'jammed' and 'open the damn door right now' fairly well. But...he glanced around the hall and started back towards his class. Most people wouldn't even notice the strange sounds.

OoOoO

"Has anyone seen Kiyoraka-kun?" the teacher asked when he saw the empty seat.

Kagome glanced at the seat beside her and then at the door and frowned. "He was here before lunch. Maybe he's ill, sensei?" Her thoughts briefly wandered to the girl she had seen open the door, and she shook it off. But she did worry...

OoOoO

"I'm sorry if I'm not gentle, I can say anything in my dreams," Kaori sang softly, while counting the number of specks on the wall.

Kazuo really hated Sailor Moon, and hearing Kaori sing every song from the show wasn't helping his mood or view of the show, either. "Kaori, Kaori, please," he begged, "please, sing something else."

"Like what?"

"I don't care, anything," he sighed, exasperated.

For a moment, Kaori pondered. She sang because she was bored, and because every time she tried to start a conversation with Kazuo, it always ended up with her hitting him. Finally, another one came to mind. "I touched those hated freckles lightly and -"

Kazuo hit his head on the door. Of course, he should have known. Kenshin.

The sound of the doorknob turning was enough to stop Kaori's voice, but not enough for Kazuo to realize that there was someone there. The door opened and Kazuo fell to the ground. Before he hit, he reached out, grabbed something to stop him from falling, and ended up grabbing Kaori by the shirt and pulling her down with him, leading to a very awkward position.

Especially since Kagome had been the one to open the door.

"Ah...Kiyoraka-kun and um..." she trailed off, blushing, glancing around, hoping for a way out of this awkward situation.

Kaori's eyes widened and she realized what they must look like, and she did the first thing that came to her mind and clobbered Kazuo before she climbed off him. Placing a hand behind her head, she bowed to Kagome, more embarrassed than ever. "I'm sorry! This must look...I'm sorry!"

"That...that's okay, but did you really need to hit Kiyoraka-kun that hard?" Kagome inquired, wincing as she thought about Miroku back in the past.

Kaori brushed her skirt off and looked down. "That pervert? He's lucky he's not DEAD," she spat.

'Definitely like Miroku-sama,' Kagome thought, with a small grin. "Oh, I'm Higurashi Kagome, it's nice to meet you."

"Miyamoto Kaori."

OoOoO

Kagome had kept her mouth shut about the incident in the closet, but someone else must have seen because it was all over school by the end of the day. Even Taji knew about it, and he wasn't letting them forget it. Of course, he knew that it had to have been an accident, but that didn't stop the rumors.

Both Kazuo and Kaori had about reached their breaking point just as they reached Sesshoumaru's office building. They didn't check in at security, simply waved at them, and headed up the elevator the top floor where Sesshoumaru and his closest business associates were located. Taji was still laughing when he passed by Kouga's office.

"Oi!" Kouga yelled at the passing trio. He slammed his desk drawer shut and walked to the door, where they had stopped. He frowned quickly and pointed to Taji. "What's his problem?"

Kaori and Kazuo blushed, which only caused Taji to laugh harder. He was able to spill what had happened, which only caused Kouga to laugh as well.

Ayame appeared, and could only grin at the story. She waited for the laughter to die down a bit before interrupting. "As much fun as teasing these two is for you boys, Sesshoumaru wants us all in his office now."

They began to walk towards the main office near the back of the building, passing familiar and unfamiliar faces in the process. A few waved, others whispered. "So," Taji began, "any clue why he wants to see us?"

Ayame shook her head. "He didn't say anything, just told me to get you. And here we are." The doors were simple, for Sesshoumaru. They were elegantly carved doors, which seemed to depict his family history, at least that's what Taji thought. Though he didn't miss what looked like Sesshoumaru killing Naraku...that pissed him off.

Taji opened the doors and smiled when he saw Shippou was there. "Hey, Shippou."

Shippou stood and grinned back. "Hey guys. Come on, Sesshoumaru wants to get this over and done with, and so do I."

"Yeah, I don't like bein' here either," Taji muttered. "So," he turned his attention to Sesshoumaru, who was sitting behind a desk, "what was so important that we had to come?"

Sesshoumaru raised his eyebrows. "You could always leave, I'm not forcing you to be here."

"Good enough for me." Taji turned and started to walk, but was caught by Kaori.

"Stop it, Taji," she hissed. "So, why are we here, Sesshoumaru?" she asked in a much calmer voice.

"I thought you would all like weapons, since it has become clear that more youkai are threatening the Higurashi shrine." He opened his desk drawer and pulled out three pens. Seeing the blank looks on their faces, he sighed. "You can't go around carrying weapons all the time in this day and age."

Kazuo rolled his eyes and Taji snorted, "No shit."

Ignoring the young males, Sesshoumaru pushed the pens forward. Each was elegant and of a different color, silver for Taji, red for Kaori and black for Kazuo. They took them and examined them, before continuing to stare blankly at Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru sighed and rubbed his temples. "Those are your weapons."

Taji looked from the pen to Sesshoumaru back to the pen and then back to Sesshoumaru. He blinked. "You're fucking kidding me."

Shippou took this opportunity to hit Taji on the head. "Idiot!" he said. "You know that everything youkai is hidden by barriers! These are your weapons barriers, the true form of your weapon will come out when you call it."

"Yeah, because we'd all KNOW THAT!" Taji yelled at Shippou.

"Well any moron should have realized that!"

"Say that to my face, runt!" He held his fist up threateningly and shook it at Shippou, who looked like he was going to bring out his own powers.

Kouga sighed and leaned on Sesshoumaru's desk. "Why were we happy that he was alive again?"

"I can't remember."

OoOoO

Taji had his arms crossed and his shoulders slumped on the way home. The entire time, he was muttering curses under his breath to Sesshoumaru and Shippou. Kazuo was sure he heard something about Kouga, too, but that wasn't a surprise.

They had left the meeting as quickly as possible, with still very little idea as to what they had been given. Of course they knew that anything youkai was shielded with a barrier so it appeared to be something different, even changing shapes. It was similar to the type of spell Sesshoumaru had on himself, so that no one could see what his true form was unless he wanted them to. They figured it was the same with the pens.

Too bad Sesshoumaru didn't tell them how to work them, saying they needed to figure it out on their own.

Kazuo was examining his pen closely, hoping for some hint on how to use it. Suddenly, he felt something...

"Taji, Kaori," he hissed softly, glancing around the area. They had just passed the school and were now getting close to the Higurashi shrine. "Do you feel that?" he asked.

Kaori closed her eyes and nodded. "Youki."

"Not a lot of it," Taji agreed. He grit his teeth, desperately wishing for the senses that Inuyasha had in the past. Just so he could know what they were about to face. "Look out!" he yelled, not knowing how he knew that the youkai was just about to attack.

They all dodged out of the way as the youkai jumped them. Taji rolled and stood on his feet. The youkai they were fighting was a weak one, by youkai standards, but he had always hated centipede youkai.

The youkai laughed. "So, this is who Sesshoumaru has protecting the shrine now? Three mortals?" She laughed and circled around them, creating a perimeter that they couldn't escape from. "How boring."

She struck too fast for Taji to see, and he soon found himself pinned against a nearby tree by his throat. He grabbed her hand and tried to pry it off his neck, but found that she was too strong. 'Damn it...now would be a good time for that weapon to work!'

To be continued...

Long story short...I hate writing battles, but they are a necessary evil!

Hence why it'll be in the next chapter. Thank you for reading, and please review!

-Ginzuishou


	5. The First Battle

Just for the record:

Yukimura Taji - Inuyasha

Yukimura Sumiko - Rin

Miyamoto Kaori - Sango

Kiyoraka Kazuo - Miroku

Kiyoraka Yasuo - Kohaku

Rating: PG-13, lots of Inuyasha being himself in this one...

Disclaimer: Not mine

**The Path of Destiny **

**Chapter 5**

**The First Battle**

Shippou was about to walk out of Sesshoumaru's office, but paused when he noticed something was different. He glanced to the side, where Sesshoumaru's weapon collection was. Tenseiga was there, as well as the remnants of Toukijin, and a few others that he recognized as being handed down by some of the more famous samurai. One was even Kouga's old sword. He did notice that Miroku's staff and Hiraikotsu were gone.

And so was Tetsusaiga.

"Sesshoumaru? You didn't give Taji the Tetsusaiga did you?" he asked, still staring at the wall.

"As much as this Sesshoumaru does not wish to admit it, Tetsusaiga is Inuyasha's by will of our father." Seeing Shippou's raised eyebrows, Sesshoumaru continued. "Or does that surprise you?"

Shippou bit his lip, forcing himself not to laugh. "Well...how is Taji going to use it? He doesn't have any youki to transform it."

"I am aware of that." Sesshoumaru seemed amused by Shippou's line of question.

"So, did you give him another weapon?"

Sesshoumaru nodded and gestured back to the wall, where he could see one more sword was missing. "Hey! You gave him my sword!"

"It was just a katana," Sesshoumaru said. "It could be used by anyone, at any time. And it wasn't about to fall apart like many of the others."

They both knew that was a lie, it was not 'just a katana'. It had been forged by Tokiji, the same smith that had forged both Tetsuaiga and Tessaiga. He was a craftsman above all craftsman and when Inuyasha had commissioned him to make Shippou a sword, the Fox Fire, it had been a sword made for him, but unlike the Tetsusaiga it was not capable of choosing it's own master. Though it seemed to work better with Shippou than anyone else.

"That was my katana!" Shippou argued. "You had no right to just give it away like that. Even if it was to Inuyasha!"

"Then don't give it to me next time."

OoOoO

"Taji!" Kaori yelled. She jumped forward and grabbed the youkai around the arm in a vain attempt to pull her off Taji, only to be thrown backwards into Kazuo. The two landed on the ground in a rather awkward position for the second time that day.

Kazuo grabbed the pen out of his pocket and held it straight out, like a weapon. This only caused the youkai to laugh more.

"Oh...it looks as though Sesshoumaru-sama should have told his little human pets about the dangers of fighting a REAL youkai," she purred while increasing the pressure on Taji's neck.

Taji growled, though he did not notice it, and his eyes narrowed at her words. Reaching up, despite the pain, Taji managed to grab the small pen from his pocket and he stabbed the youkai in the hand with it. Suddenly, what seemed to be a small explosion came from the pen and threw Taji back, away from the youkai.

He, as well as Kaori and Kazuo, quickly stood and faced the youkai, Taji now with a firm grip on the untransformed Tetsusaiga. The youkai was lying on the ground, her hands covering her face, struggling to breathe.

"Taji, are you okay?" Kazuo asked. Taji was taking deep breaths of air and barely managed a nod. "And how did you..."

"Dunno," Taji gasped out. He looked down at youkai and then at Tetsusaiga-his Tetsusaiga-

His moment of triumph over seeing his old weapon, his father's weapon, was quickly diminished when he touched it and raised it above his head.

He then cried out, "KAZE NO KIZU!"

And nothing happened.

A vein in Taji's forehead ticked and he gave a laugh, one that sounded slightly crazy. "That stupid fucking BASTARD!"

The youkai laughed and struck forward. The three were barely able to dodge out of the way. Kaori hissed in pain as she felt a rock jab into her back when she rolled on the ground.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Kaori snapped at him. "You're not a youkai, Taji!"

Kazuo was right now the center of the youkai's attention and he grabbed a hold of his pen and felt it start to change. He just knew this feel, this metal, and he swung it at the youkai. The razor sharp edges of his staff cut her face and he was able to regroup near the others.

Kaori saw what he had done and touched her own pen and felt the weight of an old friend and she smiled, despite herself. "Hiraikotsu!"

Taji looked between the two weapons and snorted. "Oh sure, you get things you can fucking USE!" His eyes snapped up and he pushed both Kazuo and Kaori out of the way. "Look out!" he barked. He barely had the chance to duck and was amazed when he saw the youkai had crashed in front of him.

Into a barrier.

Taji blinked in confusion, at first, until he looked at the Tetsusaiga. His face broke into a grin. "Okay, I can't fight you with it, but I can damn well make sure you don't get anywhere near us!"

"Stupid runt!" the youkai hissed, charging again, only to be thrown back down to the ground, smoking slightly.

Taji continued to taunt her through the barrier to the point where she seemed to have forgotten that there were others in her presence. However, that was his intention.

There was a familiar yell of "Hiraikotsu!" followed by the youkai's scream and Kazuo jumped into the fray, ending the youkai's life with a swift cut to the throat.

Taji dropped Tetsusaiga on the ground and looked at his two friends with a smirk. Kaori had the Hiraikotsu slung over her back and was walking towards the corpse to insure it was dead. Something seemed to catch Kazuo's eyes and he walked towards where the attack had begun. For a moment, neither of them looked right in their clothes and Taji could have sworn that Kaori was wearing a black suit instead of a short green skirt and Kazuo was covered in purple robes.

The images were soon gone and Taji's mind refocused on what had occurred. Clutching his hands into fists, Taji felt himself get angry, angrier than he had been in a very long time. It wasn't at someone else, though his wonderful older brother was going to get a scream or three from him, he was mad at himself. He was worthless in this weak, useless, human body. He couldn't use Tetsusaiga, and he couldn't attack the damn thing with his hands. He'd been training with swords and some hand-to-hand combat but this? What was he supposed to do with no weapon?

"Shit!" he hissed under his breath.

Kaori heard him swear while she watched the flesh of the youkai began to disappear. "We're going to have to get these cleared away..." she muttered, trying to ignore Taji for a moment. She looked up and saw Kazuo jogging back, something in his hands. "What's that?" she asked herself.

"Taji!" Kazuo called as he approached. Taji didn't answer at first and he tried again. "Taji!"

"WHAT?!"

Kazuo held his hand out, a small smirk on his face. "I think this is what you were actually supposed to fight with."

Taji held out his hand and took the very familiar sword from Kazuo. After a moment, he returned the smirk.

OoOoO

Taji rubbed his still-raw throat. Damn, but it hurt. He knew, just knew, that Sesshoumaru would be at his house when he got home. He didn't bother calling, didn't bother cleaning himself up, he and his friends just went home as fast as they could, so they could yell at Sesshoumaru.

Throwing open the door, Taji opened his mouth to start, but Kaori slapped her hand over his mouth to stop him. Naoko was bowing to a man, actually a youkai, who none of them recognized and thanking him profusely.

Sesshoumaru was standing right behind her, listening as the man, a doctor, continued to give instructions. "She will be weak with this new medication for some time, so allow her to stay home until she is rested, will that be a problem?"

"No," Naoko said quickly. "I can't...your payment, hold on, I'll-"

Sesshoumaru cut her off and addressed the doctor. "All bills are to be sent to this Sesshoumaru," he ordered. "I'm certain you have the address in your files."

"Of course, Sesshoumaru-sama," the doctor muttered as he bowed once again. "Ah, it looks like you have guests."

"Only my worthless half-brother, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru said off-handedly, not even glancing in his direction. Thankfully, Kaori and Kazuo were able to restrain Taji after that statement.

The old doctor chuckled, and raised his eyebrows. "So, you are the great Inuyasha-sama? The hanyou who is still well known today." He sniffed the air and frowned. "Well, the HUMAN who is still known today?"

Taji pulled himself out of Kaori and Kazuo's grips. "What's wrong with being human?" he demanded.

"Other than him not being able to use Tetsusaiga?" Kazuo whispered to Kaori, who nodded.

Before a fight could break out, one that the doctor knew he did not want to be caught up in, he spoke again. "I shall take my leave. Please, feel free to call at anytime if she worsens, Yukimura-sama."

"No," Naoko whispered. "I mean, yes! Of course! I mean...thank you."

The doctor bowed and left the house. His last look, however, was to Taji, who glared back at him.

After the door had closed, Kaori spoke up. "Is Sumi-chan okay?"

Naoko, still in shock, managed to find her voice again. "Yes, she's better than ever. Sesshoumaru-san...I don't know how to thank you. Those medications, I never could have afforded them. Please, if there is anything, just name it." Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. Her daughter had a chance at a normal life.

"You can go give her the first dose. That is all I ask," Sesshoumaru replied. Naoko hurried out of the room and Sesshoumaru faced the teens. "Did you kill it?" he asked, all business.

Kazuo blinked. "You knew?"

Sesshoumaru nodded once. "Yes. It had not been our original intention to have you on your own this early, but the youkai have grown restless." He checked his watch. "Seeing as how it is still early, perhaps we can get some training in tonight."

"Yeah, I'd love to, but I've got school work and-"

Taji stopped talking when Kouga appeared from nowhere and lifted him up by the back of his shirt. Grinning wolfishly, Kouga walked outside. "It wasn't an option, Inukoro. Those claw marks on your neck say you weren't fast enough. So, you get to train with me tonight."

"Sesshoumaru you bast-" Taji started, but was cut off as Kouga dragged him outside. The two younger males began to argue, and their traditional fight broke out soon afterwards.

Sesshoumaru looked pained, and was about to go and break up the fight, but Kaori saw this as the prefect opportunity. "Wait, let them continue, I need to talk to you," she said.

Kazuo knew what this was going to be about and almost stayed, until he heard what sounded like Shippou using his kitsune-bi. He winced and started towards the door. "I'd better...before Taji gets killed..."

"What is it?" Sesshoumaru asked the young girl, curious as to what would be so important she would allow her friend to continue to be beaten.

"I met Kagome today." If this shocked Sesshoumaru, he did not show it so she continued. His air of coolness unnerved her to know end. "Both Kazuo and I did, actually. And..." she hesitated and the winced when she heard someone being thrown against a tree. "And we decided it might be in Taji's best interests if we keep him away from her."

This time, Sesshoumaru could not hide his surprise. Not only did this girl seem to grasp the complex matter that they were dealing with, time itself, but she was willing to risk her friendship with his brother for it. 'Perhaps,' he mused, 'all hope is not lost for these children.'

"When he finds out you're preventing him from seeing her-"

"I'm prepared to face that," she cut him off hurriedly. "But we're not stopping him from seeing her, we're just going to avoid situations where he can see her. I wanted you to know though...just in case..." she trailed off.

Sesshoumaru nodded once, and then took two steps to the left just before a very pissed off Kouga flew through the open door and into the couch.

OoOoO

Thirty minutes, several ass-whoopings, a beating, two broken ribs and one LOOK by Naoko later, Kouga and Sesshoumaru headed to their homes. Shippou, who had heard the argument and had come running, stayed behind to help patch up the humans, though he was sporting one of the two broken ribs from where he had jumped into the fray.

Of course, his real reason for staying was to hear Naoko yell at Taji for starting a fight. Quietly, of course, since Sumi was sleeping in her room. It amused Shippou to no end to see Inuyasha, even as Taji, being scolded by someone other than Kagome. He always became sad when he thought of her. She wasn't far away, but he couldn't even hug her.

He finished patching Kazuo's arm just as Naoko finished her lecture. She excused herself and went to bed, leaving the others alone.

"I like your mom, Taji," Shippou said with a large grin on his face. "She seems to be the only person you're afraid of. Kinda reminds me of Kagome."

He had expected a light laugh, or at least a thrown pillow, from someone in the room. The silence that he received was slightly unnerving, and it worried him. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Taji muttered. "I gotta go to bed. You guys know where the door is." He stomped up the stairs, and they heard his door slam.

"Still a touchy subject," Shippou said with a sigh.

Kazuo nodded his head. "More like he's confused." Shippou raised his eyebrows, encouraging Kazuo to continue. "I think our dear Taji is suffering a lot more than he wants to admit from these memories. Where as my previous incarnation has been very selective with the memories I've received, Inuyasha appears to not have cared."

"No, that's not right," Kaori interjected thoughtfully. Her brow furrowed and she searched for the words that would best explain her theory. "It's more like...Sango and Miroku knew that something like this could happen when they died and so their souls were prepared for this incarnation. They were prepared to let us remember, but not remember too much. It's similar to how Kikyou closed her heart from Kagome."

"Are you saying that Inuyasha wanted to suffer by knowing everything that happened? Even the things that didn't have to do with Kagome?" Shippou asked with raised eyebrows. "That's a bit sadistic...even if it is him," he added as an after thought.

Kaori chose her words carefully. "Inuyasha was always a bit reckless," Shippou snorted but she ignored him, "but he definitely wasn't taking himself into account when he did this." She leaned back into the sofa and sighed. "Only Kagome. He probably felt he would have needed all of his memories to find her again."

"That's not the worst thing now is it?" Shippou pointed out. "He could have done what Kikyou did and fought to keep his memories from being free." He twirled the bandages through his fingers lazily, lost in thought. "All of you could have fought against it, too." His voice was soft, carrying a hint of something that misplaced the Kitsune's voice. A hint of fear, or worse, regret.

Kazuo's head snapped up at the sudden change in Shippou's voice. It was heavy...dark, very un-Shippou. Kaori exchanged a look with him, and he decided to try to probe a bit. "What do you mean, Shippou?"

Shippou swallowed, feeling very young again. He found himself around the campfire all those years ago. Still the child being watched so closely by the adults who asked him about his nightmares. And yet, this was one nightmare he couldn't wait to get off his chest. "You could have not woken up, you could have fought the memories and stayed asleep. You wouldn't have gone outside today knowing that you might be attacked by a youkai. Just school for the normal, everyday students." His voice was bitter and he laughed a bit.

Kazuo and Kaori exchanged quick glances. Both were quite thrown by his presentation. "But you woke us up...you kidnapped us because you thought we were awakening.

Shippou shrugged and threw the bandages to the table. "I don't know." Now, he was regretting bringing this up. "I barely thought it possible that everyone would reincarnate in this era. And to be honest," his green eyes flashed up and looked at his friends, "I was afraid you would." Those final words were all it took. The man melted away and the child was showing through once again.

Kaori closed her eyes, his words sinking in. "Shippou, you thought that we'd come back being completely different people who wouldn't want to help...or care about you. Or that we would only do it because we felt we had to."

Kazuo inhaled sharply at her words. Shippou had still been relatively young when Miroku and Sango had died, barely out of his teens by youkai standards. He had, undoubtedly, been haunted by the drastic differences he had perceived between Kagome and Kikyou as he waited for them to come back. Of course, he hadn't seen Kikyou as Inuyasha and Kaede had seen her, he only saw the 'after' version of Kikyou, the one who Naraku had managed to trick. The one who carried a burden that none of them could imagine.

He looked at Shippou and, not for the first time, managed to see him as the little boy he once knew. A little boy who was often afraid of his own shadow it seemed. He was crafty and clever, but still very much a traumatized child who had been waiting some 400 years for closure on what was almost for certain one of the greatest chapters of his life.

Shippou didn't speak and Kaori looked at the floor. "I...at first, I felt that way." Both Shippou and Kazuo snapped to attention with those words. Kazuo was gaping as she continued. "Why me? Why did I have to have these memories? What did it matter anyway, this was years ago even if I had a few memories...why should I care? It didn't directly involve me. Or anyone I knew for that matter...

"But," she continued, her voice a bit tight, her eyes just slightly watery, "I was doing a very bad job of fooling myself. I've been friends with Taji for as long as I've been alive and I was inexplicably drawn to Kazuo and Yasuo. We were all friends so quickly and then, there's you, Shippou. I didn't want to be your friend, because that would mean I had to accept these memories and I had to do what I knew was right...and it's hard to do that. It's hard to be this adult when I'm not even sure who I am in the world yet." She leaned back, going over those first few weeks in her head. The worry and the wait and what had finally made her accept who she had been. Who she had become.

She continued. "In the end, I couldn't help wanting to be part of this, and I wanted to be your friend." She closed her eyes, a slight smile on her face. It had taken her quite some time, pondering the difference between her fate and her destiny. "And that isn't Sango talking. Sango was more of a mother after a while, wasn't she? I can't be your mother, and I don't want to be. I'm perfectly happy being a friend. And that's my decision."

OoOoO

In the hall Taji just stood, shocked, by her words. He had gone to his room and sulked for a minute before deciding to go back downstairs and, not apologize, but definitely be present as a way of apologizing. He heard Shippou start talking about them staying asleep and he had frozen, unsure of how to approach that.

After all, he had raised him, why shouldn't he want to offer him some kind of comfort?! But at the same time, he wanted to comfort Kaori, he had no idea she'd felt like this. He folded his arms and glared at the wall in front of him darkly. What kind of a leader was he, anyway? Standing in the hall while they worried.

'It would be so much easier if Kagome would hurry up and get back, then she and Sango could go do their girls shit and she'd feel better.'

He listened to the rest of the conversation and, finding everything to be back in order after the talk; he went back to his room and fell asleep, not giving a second thought about what he had been thinking in the hallway.

To be continued...

I don't do Kikyou hate. I find Kikyou to be a fantastic character who grows A LOT in the story. Not to say that none of the others don't, but I find her journey to be unique.

I would also like to state that I think that Kikyou and Kagome are very similar in my mind. Kagome is a genuinely good person. She likes to help people, she is very good with children and supportive of her friends. Kikyou, before she was killed by Naraku, was the same way and you occasionally see that side of her now. I can't say I exactly agree with how she stays alive and some of the things she's done to people...but I know she was genuinely a good person.

I'm using the fact that Shippou didn't see that good person very much as a basis for his fear. He saw Kikyou as a 'bad' person if you will when he was younger, but Kagome, her reincarnation, was a good person. So he has a fear that if you can go bad to good, you can go good to bad.

Ginzuishou


	6. Close Encounters

Hello, everyone! Thank you to those who are reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing this story. You have my appreciation and thanks! Things start picking up in this chapter, and I'll just come out and say I had a LOT of fun writing it.

As a special note, several of my friends and I had a discussion some years back. And I do mean years. Mrs. Higurashi takes everything so calmly and instride that you wouldn't think there was ever any danger or anything possibly out of the ordinary happening and we realized that we've seen only one character like this in Takahashi-sensei's universe before. Tendo Kasumi from Ranma ½.

So I have thus made the decision that while I am not writing a crossover, Mrs. Higurashi is Tendo Kasumi from Ranma. It sure explains why nothing phases her, doesn't it?

Rating: T, for the mention, and doing, of an ass-whooping

Disclaimer: The wonderful characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, and all others such as Viz who may own it too. None of which are me.

**The Path of Destiny **

**Chapter 6**

**Close Encounters**

Weeks began to pass, and the only interesting that happened in the lives of the three friends was what they dubbed "Youkai d'jour." It was a bit of an exaggeration for a while.

Until it became true.

Then they just felt like hurting something, or rather someone named Sesshoumaru, for getting them into their current situation.

Never mind the fact that it was their previous lives that got them into this...

And as the time passed Taji never met Kagome. Kazuo was meticulous about this. He had, however, had several encounters with a classmate of Kagome's that he preferred to not remember. Hojou was more annoying than Kagome's friends.

The trio became more proficient with their weapons, and did their best to use Taji's memories to follow what was going on. Without him seeing Kagome it made it difficult, but there were incidents that would happen around that he recognized on the TV or that just 'felt right' as Taji would say.

It had been nearly two months since they first encountered their past lives, which meant two moon cycles and a lot of danger.

OoOoO

_Blood._

_There was blood everywhere and he enjoyed it. He relished in it and he took more satisfaction that that bastard Goshinki didn't see coming._

_"Weren't my movements supposed to be as plain as day?" Inuyasha hissed while cracking his knuckles._

_Goshinki seemed oblivious to anything, not even his own arm being severed. "I don't get it...Inuyasha you bastard...why did you transform?"_

_"Bah," Inuyasha spat, "how would I know that? Instead of worrying about my body, you should be saying your prayers, Goshinki. I'm sending you safely to hell!"_

_He charged again, his mind completely void of any feeling except for joy. The joy of being able to kill._

_Bloodlust._

_"You damn hanyou!" Goshinki shrieked, rushing forward._

_"The Youkai blood flowing through my body," Inuyasha charged as well, "is in a different class to your crap!" In one swipe it was over, and Inuyasha stood with more blood on his hands. "Goshinki...It was fun knowing you."_

_'My blood is boiling throughout my body...' he thought while looking at his blood stained hand. 'What is this feeling? I still... haven't killed enough._

_A very familiar voice filled his ears and a part of him panicked. Another part of him, rejoiced. "Inuyasha."_

OoOoO

Taji woke up in a tangle of sheets and felt the sheer terror of the nightmare only grow as he looked around his own room. For a moment, he wasn't sure where he was but the knowledge came to him and he sighed. He was home, of course, but that thought didn't comfort him.

That was something he had never dreamed about before...he had never remembered it quite that clearly. The blood on his hands and even his face...the feel of the sheer power he possessed. He had liked it.

"Oh God," he muttered as he stumbled out of bed and to the window. He threw it open and took several deep gulps of air, though he didn't feel any better. He could still smell it, still FEEL it on him.

His stomach lurched and he began to hyperventilate. The dinner he had eaten only hours before ended up on his lawn while he sagged against the window.

This wasn't the first time this had happened, but that was definitely the first time he remembered that. Of course, he had known that it had happened, but experiencing it...this was different.

"If Kagome hadn't been there..." He couldn't even think beyond that statement. He didn't want to think about what he might have done. He flexed his hands and wiped his mouth, still disgusted with himself.

OoOoO

"Yukimura! Yukimura!"

Taji blinked slowly and moved his head up from his desk. He had a pounding headache, very little sleep, and visions of blood and death surrounding him. He hadn't wanted to come to school, but if he had stayed home it would have alerted someone that something was wrong. School was better than telling anyone about his nightmares.

Never the less, it took a moment for him to realize who was calling him.

But, as he stared into Hojou's face, he wished desperately for the strength of heart to kill humans.

"Ah, good, you're awake, Yukimura!" Hojou said in his too cheerful voice as the rest of the class began to get up and mill around. It vaguely registered to Taji that it was time for lunch. Hojou continued to talk. "Sensei was getting angry, but I managed to convince him you were still taking notes."

Taji grit his teeth. There was something about this guy. He was nice, way too nice, and he always seemed to have an answer. The girls loved him, the guys hated him. More than that, he KNEW that Hojou had a thing for Kagome. He talked about her all the time. "Thank you, Hojou," Taji finally managed out. 'Don't kill him don't kill him...years in prison. Mercy killing...don't kill him...'

Hojou continued to smile. "You're welcome!" Taji took that as the end of the conversation and reached for his bento so he could get the hell out of the room. He stopped when Hojou continued. "Are you eating lunch with your friends...Kiyoraka and Miyamoto? I see you eat with them often!"

Hojou was just trying to be polite, be nice to the guy with so few friends. Taji knew that. Unfortunately, so little sleep had put him on edge. Normally he could tolerate the human to the point of just wanting to leave him unconscious in a closet. Today he had no temper. "Yeah, yeah with them. I'm starving." He walked out of the classroom, and wasn't prepared for Hojou to follow.

"Ah, me too. Look, there's Kiyoraka and Miyamoto! Ah, Kiyoraka! I have a question!" Hojou called as he jogged ahead of Taji. Taji visibly relaxed and almost laughed at the look on Kazuo's face when he saw Hojou.

Taji hung back, near the entrance to the stairwell leading to the roof, and Kaori joined him. Somehow, Kaori knew what Hojou was asking about and she knew it was something that Taji shouldn't hear yet. She began to lead the way up to the stairs, and they were lucky that Taji was far enough away to miss Hojou's question.

"Is Higurashi here today?"

"Uh...yes. She is here today, Hojou-kun."

OoOoO

Taji opened his bento, broke apart his chopsticks and muttered a half-hearted "itadakimasu." He managed to take two whole bites before he resorted to shoving his food around his plate. Somehow, his fried shrimp and red bean cakes weren't appetizing after what he had dreamed last night. Just thinking about it made his stomach lurch.

"Taji, are you doing okay?" Kaori asked as she slapped Kazuo's hands away from her food. "You look pale." This time, Kazuo's hand wandered to her right breast and she managed to smash her elbow into his face without dropping her chopsticks or food.

Kazuo rubbed his now sore face. "Taji? Are you listening? The beautiful Kaori is concerned about you!"

But he did not blink. He was so wrapped up in his own world, forcing himself to relive his nightmares. He could vaguely hear someone calling his name and he looked up and stared at Sango as she reached out towards him, calling, "Taji!"

'Taji? The fuck is wrong with Sango?' he thought as he blinked back at her and crossed his arms, suddenly worried for her mental health.

A sharp pain in his head brought him back down, and Taji rubbed his head. "What the fuck was that for?!" he yelled at Kaori, who looked quite smug.

Kazuo and Kaori exchanged looks and started eating their lunches. "It's nice of you to join us again, .ku.n." Kazuo made sure he punctuated each syllable of Taji's name with a grin.

"Want to talk about it?" Kaori inquired, suddenly in best friend mode. "You seem pretty far out there today."

Assuming a typical stance, Taji crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air. "Nothin' to talk about!"

"Yeah, sure," Kaori muttered and continued on with her lunch. 'Men.'

Kasuo nodded in agreement with Kaori. "You shouldn't keep things from us, Taji. We're your friends!" He stuffed some rice in his mouth after this.

"Ha!" Taji snorted. "She's my friend, you're just nosy!" Suddenly he blinked, something hitting him. His hands were empty. "AND YOU STOLE MY LUNCH, YOU BASTARD!"

Within a blink of an eye, Kazuo and Taji were up and running, literally, around the school's roof with curses, threats and general name calling being yelled between the two of them.

"Have your mother make you lunch!"

"Your mother makes it better!"

"Like I care!"

"You weren't eating it!"

"It was still mine, dammit!"

Kaori popped her last piece of fish into her mouth and calmly put away her bento as they continued on. 'I feel like I'm stuck in a bad episode of "Slayers."'

OoOoO

Youkai sightings seemed to calm down, but that was as sightings of Inuyasha at the shrine rose according to the human spies that frequented the shrine on a daily basis. Higurashi Kasumi had long ago been able to pick which people who came to the shrine were there on business that wasn't spiritual, and as no one had taken her aside or made a move to speak with her she assumed all was well in the story her daughter had fallen into.

No one had come to tell her otherwise, and Kagome hardly talked about it. And she couldn't find the courage to ask about the blood stains that she came home with.

But it was a sunny Thursday afternoon that she was out picking something up for dinner, it would just be the three of them tonight, that she saw a boy at the same store who looked familiar to her.

His ears were human and his hair was black, but he wore the same scowl on his face that she knew to be mostly false. She knew that she shouldn't meet him, and so she hid behind the stack of ramen until he had made his purchase, which she noticed was some fresh vegetables and plenty of ramen. Kasumi couldn't help herself. She ran to the door and looked outside to see his fading back and felt her heart leap at the boy who, after giving his everything, had done so much to find her daughter again.

She was about to go back inside when suddenly a dark cloud descended from seemingly out of nowhere and everyone in the area stopped in their tracks as a crack of thunder sounded and a bolt of lightning struck the ground at Taji's feet. Kasumi covered her head, but Taji looked mildly bored as a four legged creature, vaguely resembling a toad, appeared before him.

"Shikon no Tamaaaaa," the toad youkai croaked out.

Everyone present on the street was running. To other streets, inside shops, anywhere to get off the street of the demon and the human who were staring at each other. Kasumi put a hand to her mouth, but felt little fear for Taji. She knew, if nothing else, that he would win this. But she had never seen him fight before, not as a human, nor as a hanyou.

"Ya stupid toad, you really think I've got the Shikon no Tama?" Taji barked while reaching into his pocket.

"Shikon no Tama," it repeated.

Taji snorted and lifted the pen, extending it into two swords, slamming Tetsusaiga into the ground as a barrier if he needed it, she knew this from what Shippou had told her during his last visit, but from Kasumi's point of view this seemed an unnecessary step. This youkai seemed weak, and stupid.

"Fine," Taji spat back. "Let's see you beat this!" he ran forward, sword ready and sliced at the toad, only to have it leap out of the way and land behind him.

"Shikon no Tama."

Growling in the back of his throat, which made Kasumi smile, Taji ran forward again and sliced, repeating this process several times until he was breathing hard. Kasumi began to feel worried and wondered if she should call Shippou on the cell phone he had left with her. Taji, as far as she could tell, hadn't called his two friends for back up.

Just as she was about to reach for the phone the battle turned. Taji ran and aimed for the toad and it jumped but before Taji completed the swing he turned around and sliced upwards, surprising the toad as a grin lit up his face.

The toad turned to ash, the ashes blew away in the wind. Not waiting for anyone to follow him Taji grabbed Tetsusaiga and both swords shrunk back into their concealed forms. He grabbed the grocery bags he had dropped and made his way back home, a little faster than was necessary.

Many people were cheering and clapping, Kasumi smiled and the boy she knew and didn't know and clapped along with them.

OoOoO

"You could have been killed!" Kouga roared from his seat at Kaori's dinning room table.

Taji, who had been pulled into the house by Kouga who was apparently waiting for him with Shippou, Kazuo, and Kaori, rolled his eyes. "But I wasn't. It was a small fry demon that didn't even know it's own name."

"People saw you, you idiot," Shippou moaned while rubbing his eyes.

Kazuo raised a hand to placate the group. "Now, we knew that was going to happen eventually. There are plenty of youkai who don't care about the Secrecy Code. We know many only abide it because they fear the taiyoukai that still live."

Kouga threw himself back into his chair, arms folded like a child. "That doesn't make what Taji did any smarter!"

"No, he _should_ have called for backup," Kaori snapped. "You're just lucky that Kagome and Inuyasha are back in the Feudal Era. The type of hype this has gotten would peak their interest a little too much."

"So," Kouga punched Taji on top of his head causing Taji to take his own swing at him and miss, "I think we're all in agreement here. No more solitary fights. Right? RIGHT?"

"Right," Taji mumbled, hating himself for having to give in to Kouga.

OoOoO

"Why are we always late?!" Kaori screamed back to Taji and Kazuo as she pressed forward through the city to school a few weeks later, just hoping she wasn't causing anyone permanent harm. She just barely managed to duck away from someone else that was running in the opposite direction.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Taji yelled up to her, barely avoiding an old lady. "But it wasn't my fault today!"

Kazuo was just managing to keep up with the two of them. "I had to do work on my computer last night!" He hopped over a small child and turned the next corner sharply.

"LOOKING UP PORN IS NOT WORK!" Taji shot back.

"LOOKING UP QUALITY PORN IS!"

Kaori rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to turn around and smack Kazuo with all her might. Instead, she stopped suddenly as a familiar aura invaded her senses and everything else was blocked out except for blind fear.

And pain once Kazuo and Taji had both crashed into her and pulled her to the ground in a pile.

"OI! Get up, Kaori! We need to get to school!" Taji yelled as he untangled himself and stood up.

Kazuo, however, smiled. "Ah, to be back in this position..."

That brought her back to reality. "HENTAI!" Kaori slapped Kazuo across the face and sat up. "Idiot, do you feel that?"

Kazuo's hand was reaching out to Kaori, but he stopped when he felt her death glare. "Ah...feel what, Kaori?"

Now, Taji had stopped and was facing back the way they came. "Something weird. I've never sensed anything like it before. Not quite human, not quite youkai."

"A hanyou," Kazuo breathed as it hit him.

Taji blinked and glanced at his two friends who were still on the ground. "You ain't serious."

"This is definitely Inuyasha," Kaori responded. Her eyes widened as she caught a glimpse of something red on the ground about a block behind them. "Oh shit! RUN! HIDE!"

Not needing to be told twice, Kazuo grabbed Taji's arm and they began to run, with Kaori on their heels. They didn't look back and stopped for a moment to catch their breath across from a line of apartments. Kazuo was frantically checking behind them the entire time they were stopped. They were about to set off towards school again when they noticed smoke coming from the window of the apartment in front of them.

Kazuo groaned. "We don't have time for this!" He began to pull out his cell phone but Taji grabbed his arm. "Taji?"

"It'll be okay," he said with a strange look in his eyes, as though remembering something far off. "Let's get to school."

The others exchanged looks. "Taji-" Kaori began.

"Look, trust me on this!" Taji snapped. "We need to get out of here!"

The two didn't move; they simply stared at him as though he was someone different. The way he was acting definitely worried them both for the past few months, but this was just...weird. Taji always wanted to help people. Well, as much as they could get him to admit to.

This time, Taji grabbed them by their wrists and began to drag them to school just as the fire department pulled up. He didn't stop pulling, despite their protests, and he didn't stop running until they reached the school about ten minutes later. They were all panting as they rested on the front lawn and caught their breaths.

"Geeze, Taji," Kaori whispered, rubbing her wrists. "What was that for?!" She looked at her wrist and saw that it was red with...her eyes opened wide. Claw marks?

Taji, however, wasn't paying attention to what his friend was saying because he knew, just knew, what was going on. He remembered this day at Kagome's. She had freaked out because he had first shown up at her house, then at school and finally...he had shown up naked in her bedroom.

He felt his cheeks redden and crossed his arms. 'Feh. Stupid woman...getting all freaked out over something like THAT!'

Thinking back on it, had he been smarter at the time...

He shook those thoughts of his head. The what ifs, and all the dreams he had spent a good part of his life pondering after Kagome had left. Now, he just had to still his heart, make it pump a little slower. Because if he, that is Inuyasha, was on his way to the school today, that meant that Kagome was in school today.

He took off running.

Kazuo closed his eyes and groaned. "Damn, he knows!" he groaned. He and Kaori took off after Taji. They barreled through the school hallways, knocking over students and teachers and inanimate objects alike. None of them cared; they all had the same goal: Class 3-C

Taji was still faster, and he had a head start. He through the door open and time stopped for just a second.

She was wearing the uniform, the same one that she had always worn. She was frantically going over some notes in a notebook and asking her friends questions while she pointed to different things. She looked extremely flustered, but there was something that Taji couldn't see and that was her eyes. He wanted to see if her eyes held that spark.

"Taji!" Kaori gasped as she grabbed him and hauled him away from the door into the hallway. She had his jacket gripped tightly in both of her hands and her face was pale despite her recent run up the stairs. She was panting and all she could do was hold his jacket harder.

Taji glared at her and grabbed her wrists, trying to pull them off. "Get off of me, Kaori. People are staring!" he hissed.

Kazuo reached them then and he glanced at the door. "Did you see her?" he demanded.

"Of course I saw her!" Taji replied. "That's what I came up here for since YOU keep hiding the fact that she's here!" He finally managed to push Kaori away and he straightened his jacket. "I'm not as dumb as you think I am, because I didn't go talk to her! I just...wanted to see her." He looked down and the ground and then snuck a peek back into the doorway.

"Taji," Kaori began softly, "you can't-"

"I know!" he barked. His hands clenched into fists and he watched as she slumped into her chair. " know."

OoOoO

Kazuo fell into his seat next to the window and set his book bag on the ground. He hit his head on his desk a couple of times and was only stopped when he heard a cough from beside him. He turned his head, ignoring the throbbing, and saw Kagome look at him with a worried expression on her face.

"Umm...Kiyoraka-kun...are you okay? Did you not study for the tests either?" she asked gingerly, almost afraid of making him hurt himself again.

Now Kazuo felt like crying. "No, I didn't! Damn you Inu-" he stopped suddenly, his curse half formed on his lips. Kagome's eyes were slightly wider than normal. "Inu-chan! My stupid dog, you know, he was sick!" he laughed out, a bit more nervously than he meant.

Kagome nodded once and took a deep breath. 'Why is my heart beating so fast?' She gave Kazuo one last look before directing her attention to the front of the classroom where Sensei was now handing out the test papers. 'I HATE math.'

The test commenced and Kazuo found himself lost beyond all hopet. His one comforting thought was that Taji and Kaori were probably doing just as bad as he was, especially Taji who hated math with a passion. He hid a smirk with his hand. Probably all those months of Kagome going on and on about it just coming back to haunt him.

He glanced around and noticed, with a sigh, that Kagome seemed to be panicking as much as he was. His eyes narrowed and he saw her looking out the window and, for lack of a better word, silently freaking out. Kazuo turned his head to the window and caught a flash of red before...

"OSUWARI!"

Kazuo resisted the urge to grin, but just barely, especially when the teacher stood up and approaching Kagome, who was also standing.

"Osuwari, is it? Then you can go stand in the hallway."

The class laughed at her and she left the room as quickly as possible. Kazuo glanced out the window out of the corner of his eye and caught a red flash leaping from the ground to the roof. He let out his breath in a sigh and tried to concentrate on the test.

OoOoO

The bell chimed and Kazuo jumped out of class, ignoring the protests from the teacher. He noticed first that Kagome was already gone, which caused him to speed up. He stopped in front of 3-B, slightly out of breath. He was hoping to catch Taji before he exited, but if he was right...

"Ah, Hojou-kun!" Kazuo exclaimed when the boy came into view. "Where's Taji?"

"Yukimura? He ran out of here so quickly!" Hojou said with a bright smile on his face...as always. "I was going to ask him how he did on the test, but he was already gone."

Kazuo didn't need to be told twice and he saw Kaori ahead of him, heading for the stairwell. He grabbed her hand and laced their fingers together as he jerked her up the stairs. She didn't even have time to protest, or stop herself from blushing as he managed to reach the top of the stairs in record time...and find nothing.

"Damn, I was so sure he'd already be here," Kazuo hissed, looking around the dark stairwell.

Kaori seemed to have finally regained her voice and she coughed a bit. "Uhh...Kazuo..."

Kazuo looked down at their intertwined fingers and he gave a gentle squeeze. He looked up again and smiled at the blush on her cheeks. "Kaori..."

Kaori's eyes widened and her breath caught...

"Is this a private moment?" Taji drawled from the foot of the stairs with a large grin on his face. "Or can I interrupt to point out the bouzu's stupidity again?"

Kaori jerked away, her eyes flashing anger, but not at Kazuo. "Taji, you idiot! Now will someone please tell me what's going on here?"

"Ah, I'd like to know that as well," Taji said with a large grin.

Deciding it was time to change the subject before a fist fight broke out, Kazuo stepped down so he was between them. "We can't eat outside today."

Amused, Taji leaned against the door frame. "No shit."

"Why can't we?" Kaori asked.

Taji looked at her and then jerked his head up the stairs. "Kagome's out there with Inuyasha, eating lunch. She left it at home. That's why he's here."

Kaori glanced at the thin piece of wood, the only thing separating them from a time paradox, and her eyes went wide. "He's HERE?!"

Smirking, Taji began to head back out the door. "Yeah. I'd keep my head down today if I was you, Kaori. I seem to remember peeking in on class A a few times on accident before going back to the shrine."

OoOoO

Kazuo draped himself over the Yukimura's couch, not caring if he put his feet on their furniture. Kaori was sprawled on the ground, slightly pale still from what turned out to be many near misses with Inuyasha. Neither of them looked ready to move for about a week. They let Taji, who seemed to be doing just fine and having expected most of this, take care of everything.

At some point, Ayame had shown up to start questioning them about the unusual happenings, but she quickly stopped when she saw them sprawled like they were. Instead of doing the usual and trying to get a report on what was going on, she sat in an armchair and pulled out a book. Her gut told her this report would be something to stick around for.

They didn't even bother to get up when Sesshoumaru came over to check on Sumiko. Taji let him in and then went outside to continue practicing with his sword while Sumi and Sesshoumaru sat in the den with Kazuo and Kaori.

"Ne, ne, why are you so tired, Onee-chan?" Sumi asked after ten minutes of only her talking. She was used to Sesshoumaru not talking, but not her big sister! It was too strange.

Kaori sat up and leaned against the coffee table. "Sorry, Sumi-chan, but it was a very, very long day." She rubbed her temples. "Ne, Houshi-sama?" she muttered scathingly.

Sesshoumaru faced Kazuo, an amused look on his face. He handed Sumi the remote control for the television and beckoned the young man to continue. Ayame set her book down, listening intently. Kazuo grinned a bit sheepishly, but quickly faced Kaori in an attempt to somehow make the day seem better. "Think of all the things that happened today! Taji got to see Kagome! We got to see Inuyasha and-"

"AH! INUYASHA-SAMA!" Sumi exclaimed.

"Yes, Inuyasha," Kazuo agreed in a dismissive tone. "And-"

"No, it's really Inuyasha!" Ayame exclaimed, pointing at the TV. "Oh no...

Sure enough as the four watched the TV there was a little girl, wearing a baseball cap and holding up a picture of a man with dog ears, pointed teeth, and a red haori. It could only be Inuyasha. The news report was praising him a hero for saving the child, and also apparently stopping a robber earlier that day.

The news report ended, leaving everyone in the room in stunned silence. Sumi blinked and changed the channel, not caring what the others were thinking. She just thought it was cool that Inuyasha was out saving people.

The look on Sesshoumaru's face said very simply that he did not. As Kazuo and Kaori gazed at him, they noticed he was almost shaking with repressed anger. "That stupid, insufferable...Decades of cover ups only to be blown by his insolence!" Sesshoumaru growled out and he opened the side door that led to the garden where Taji was practicing.

"Ah, shit," Kazuo sighed, chasing after Sesshoumaru. Kaori was at his heels and she saw where he was first.

"TAJI! RUN!" Kaori shouted.

Ayame followed, but she was busy talking into her cell phone, informing a few key people of what needed to be covered up. And soon. She kept talking, but watched the events unfold with a wry smile. Silently, because she knew of the work that was coming in the next few weeks, she cheered for Sesshoumaru.

Taji stopped his forms as soon as she yelled and he saw Sesshoumaru coming towards him. He grinned, having seen this coming and firmly planted the sword he was practicing with, Tetsusaiga, in the ground and crossed his arms. He laughed quite merrily when Sesshoumaru struck the barrier full force.

"Ha! Baka! You think I wasn't prepared for when you would see the news?" he taunted. "BAAAAAAAAKA!"

Sesshoumaru bared his teeth, more angry for not having seen something like this coming than anything else. Of course Taji knew! He could remember anything, even the slightest detail of the past was not lost to him. That didn't mean he was getting away with knowing this crucial piece of information unscathed. "You can't hide behind Father's barrier forever, Inuyasha."

"FEH! Wanna bet? I can stay inside of the barrier for as long as I like." He was grinning, obviously greatly enjoying this. "And if you think today was bad, this is nothing compared to what is coming up."

Kazuo stepped between the two brothers and held his hands up. "Peace, both of you," he told them serenely. "This is not the way to handle this situation for either of you."

Kaori's eyes were narrowed at the former monk. For a moment, she didn't understand, but only for a moment. Instead, she returned the smile that he was giving her and came to stand beside him.

"Taji, you should not be hiding behind this barrier," she scolded, "it is childish. And Sesshoumaru, you do not have to beat Taji's ass into the ground like I know you so want to." Sesshoumaru merely stared at the two.

"For instance," Kazuo intervened, "we can happily provide you this service.."

That said, Kazuo and Kaori ran into the barrier, their weapons out and in attack position as they began to hit their friend multiple time.

"YOU IDIOT WE COULD HAVE GOTTEN SEEN TODAY!"

"MY KAORI MIGHT HAVE BEEN IN DANGER IF INUYASHA HAD SEEN US!"

"DO YOU WANT A PIECE OF THIS?!"

"Now that you mention it-"

"SHUDDUP, YA BOUZU!"

Ayame closed her cell phone and just blinked once while she started back towards the house. She should have been just a bit less surprised by this turn of events. "I need some aspirin."

"No," Sesshoumaru stated firmly. "Sake."

Looking between Sesshoumaru and the three friends was all it took for Ayame, who normally didn't drink that much, to reach her decision on that. "Yes. Yes, sake is always good when Inuyasha is involved."

"Welcome to my life."

To be continued...

dI'm sorry, I just so enjoyed that last scene! ^_^ That scene was actually THE inspiration for this story! So, until next time, please review!

Thank you for reading!


	7. The Awakening

Couple of notes about the Japanese in this chapter:

Koneko - kitten

Ane-ue - formal way of saying "big sister"

And finally, a girl making a boy lunch is usually sign that they are dating. ^_^

I'm also really sorry it took so long for this to get up. I was at a wedding and then ended up hospitalizied for over a week and was without my computer. Hopefully the WTF in this chapter makes up for that.

Rating: T, but this chapter is really mild compared to the last one. Balancing the cosmic forces.

Disclaimer: The wonderful characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, and all others who may own it too. None of which are me.

**The Path of Destiny **

**Chapter 7**

**The Awakening**

Yasuo sighed and shifted his grocery bag from one arm to the next. It was a bit heavier than he was used to, but his mother had asked him to get milk, too. He wasn't used to going out and buying things for his mother for dinner, his older brother had always done that. But lately...

Again, he sighed. Yes, things were different lately. Sometimes, his parent's wouldn't even look at Kazuo, treating him like something foreign, something...strange. Yasuo didn't agree, and Kazuo just kept saying they needed more time. Kazuo had been insisting over these past weeks that no matter what memories he carried, he was still their son and Yasuo's brother. And that part was true; Kazuo hadn't changed in that respect.

But there were times, times when Kazuo would let his happy face fall. Yasuo didn't see it happen very often, and Kazuo didn't know that he's seen his true face. There was a lot of pain in those moments and Yasuo hated that he couldn't help or be a part of what his older brother was going through.

More often than not, though, he was just angry at his parents for not being as supportive as they could be.

A soft meow brought him out of his thoughts and Yasuo saw a small kitten coming cautiously towards him. He smiled at it and bent down. "Hello, koneko-chan! Aren't you cute?" He admired the yellow and black cat with a bigger smile. It continued to approach him and he nodded encouragingly. Finally, it came to a stop in front of him and he gingerly picked it up.

"You really are cute!" Yasuo commented. "Eh?" He looked at the kitten closely and noticed it had not one but two tails swaying behind it. "That's strange...but it makes you cuter! Do you want to come home with me? I can give you some food."

The kitten meowed a response and the two of them continued the walk back to the compound in silence.

Yasuo crept into the kitchen and set down the bags. He set the kitten on the ground as well, hoping that his other cat wouldn't mind having this one in for a while. He grinned and started to work on his speech to get his mother to agree to let him keep her.

He poured a saucer of milk and got some of the cat food from the pantry and fed it to the small kitten. As she ate, he gently stroked her fur. A name...she would need a name. Naming them always made parents let you keep your pets. Makes them seem more real.

"A name...a name..." he changed softly while he placed the dish down. "Hmm...Spot seems a bit strange for you." The kitten mewed in agreement and lapped up the food and milk as though it hadn't eaten in weeks. "Your color is unusual. Tanny! Right, Tanny?" He received a look from the cat that made him laugh. "Okay. Tanny isn't right."

He continued to ponder this until he heard his mother come in from behind him. She stopped short and looked at the cat, who had stopped eating, and then at her son. She sighed. "Yasuo...

Yasuo was already prepared. "Please, Okaa-san! She won't be that hard to care for. She's very tame, and docile! See!" He pointed as the kitten padded softly up to his mother and meowed.

"And who knows what kind of diseases it has! Get it out now, or I will!" She glared at him and he sighed in response. "Yasuo!"

"Fine!" Yasuo snapped as he scooped the twin-tailed kitten into his arms and deposited her gently outside. "If you come back at night, I'll keep some food out here for you," he whispered as he closed the door.

Kirara cocked her head to the side and meowed once again. She couldn't stay with Kohaku, she understood that. She took off to find Sango.

OoOoO

_He had her hand in his as he forced them through the forest. He was trying to keep her safe...trying to save her. But he couldn't let go of her hand, even though that was just dooming her. He gripped his sickle tightly. She was only one step behind him, but she was obviously shocked by their sudden change of scenery._

_"Say, why did you run away to here?" she inquired as she tried to keep up with him. "There was somebody outside the mansion wasn't there? Where are we going now?_

_He didn't say anything, there was just one thought on his mind, and he was fighting against it. He couldn't..._

_"Hey, Kohaku," she whispered softly._

_He felt something in his back and he hissed softly as that person's voice came back to him full force._

_"Kill her."_

_He had no choice, of course. Whatever Naraku said was law. He raised the blade._

_"Kill her."_

_But the look in her eyes, it stopped him. She knew what was coming. She was staring her death in the face and she didn't seem to be afraid, or worried. And he paused._

_His blade came down..._

OoOoO

Yasuo sat up and looked wildly around the room. For a moment, he couldn't see where he was, he didn't know where he was and the name "Naraku" kept repeating itself over and over in his head.

As he looked around, he saw that everything was the same as when he went to bed the night before...but that didn't stop the images from playing over in his head. The clothes weren't of this time...the weapons, the feel; nothing was as it should have been.

Rin?

He screwed his eyes up in concentration. Yes, he knew that name. It was somewhere...someone...

His eyes went wide.

"Sumi-chan..."

OoOoO

Yasuo grabbed the last piece of toast from the table and shoved it into his mouth as he ran out the door. He called a muffled "I'm leaving!" over his shoulder as he took off. 'Mou! How does Onii-chan do this every day?!' he thought as he pushed himself to run faster.

"AH! Yasuo-kun!" he heard a familiar voice from behind him as he rounded a corner.

Yasuo turned around and saw his brother, Taji and Kaori all running behind him. Yasuo grinned and slowed down so they could catch up. "Ohayo, Kaori-san! Everyone up late again?"

Kaori returned his grin. "We like to be consistent."

"But it's weird," Kazuo pondered as he jumped over a small cat, "you never sleep in!"

Yasuo's eyes darkened and he stared straight ahead. "I had...trouble sleeping last night."

"Trouble?" Taji asked, not stopping his pace. "Anything bad?"

Yasuo nodded, a familiar look coming over his face. "Just some bad dreams, I guess. It was..." he trailed off softly and did not finish the sentence. "It was nothing!"

And though he couldn't see it, the three exchanged looks as they all headed towards school.

OoOoO

"He's awakening," Kaori stated simply as she threw her first lunch at Kazuo. She then opened her own lunch and started eating.

Kazuo caught the lunch and nodded. "Well, we knew it would happen. After all, he was as involved as the rest of us."

Taji shoved some rice in his mouth. "You two going out or something? That why you made him lunch? But yeah...we were always hopeful, ya know? Didn't want the kid to remember something like that."

Kaori was torn between throwing something at Taji and just acknowledging the fact that they had all been hopeful.

"I was...hopeful, too. But if he is remembering, we may want to just sit him down and explain the past so that it won't be that big of a shock when he awakens." She hugged her knees to her chest. "I hope."

"I don't think that will matter in his case," Kazuo pointed out. "Kohaku's life was so traumatic, and there were many things left unsaid between him and his family, I doubt any measure of preparation will help."

"Stuck in the dark like the rest of us," Taji muttered. "Joy." He crushed his soda can and heaved it into a nearby bin. "Well, this is one meeting that I'm not looking forward to."

"Meeting?" Kazuo inquired.

Dusting himself off, Taji stood. "Yeah. I told that bastard of a brother of mine that I would let him know when the kid started to awaken."

Kazuo narrowed his eyes. "Why would Sesshoumaru care?"

Taji had begun to walk to the door so he could go get things ready for his next class. He was trying very hard not to betray that he was just as worried as the others as he spoke to them. "The past is obviously affecting us all, no matter how much we try to say it isn't, we're only lying. A lot happened to Kohaku. He was under Naraku's control for months..."

"And he wants to make sure that there still isn't any lingering effects, is that it?!" Kaori snapped. She stood up and her fists were clenched at her side.

"Didn't he go through enough?!" Kazuo demanded as he stood beside Kaori.

Taji didn't answer for a moment. But he did smile. "Well, I guess you guys have one more thing in common now. You're both his siblings." He opened the door and walked down the stairs, leaving two older siblings to their thoughts and worries.

OoOoO

Taji walked down the hall wearing his smirk of triumph. Not only had he managed to remind them that they were BOTH Kohaku's siblings and he would need both their support, but he also managed a jab in there about the lunch. He would definitely have to pump Sumiko for information about those two. Sad that his little sister would know more than he did, but no one ever thinks of hiding things from her.

"Ah, Yukimura!"

Taji stopped in his tracks and his smile slipped from his face. Oh God above, not now. "What?!" he barked, praying he would take the hint and just leave him alone.

Of course he didn't. Good intentions, good guy...just on Taji's nerves.

"I have to ask you if I can borrow your notes!"

Taji blinked in confusion. Hojou hadn't missed any classes, that much Taji was sure of. "Why do you...?"

Hojou blushed and looked down. "Well, you see..." he mumbled. Taji crossed his arms and managed to look extremely bored. "That is...I was...writing a letter during class."

"A letter?" Taji snorted, trying not to laugh. Hojou was one of the best students in the school, why would he not pay attention for something that stupid?

"Yes...a letter to Higurashi." Taji stopped his inward laughter and focused on Hojou. "Since I can't visit her I wanted to wish her well. Plus, I'm sending her these therapeutic candles...is something wrong, Yukimura?" He blinked. "You're bleeding!"

Taji looked down at his hands and saw that he had them clenched tightly and there was blood trailing from one of his palms. 'How did I not notice that?' he asked himself. "It's nothing!" he snapped as he opened his fists and took a good look at his bleeding right hand. 'Damn it...'

"You should get down to the infirmary and get that taken care of!" Hojou exclaimed, honestly concerned that someone would start bleeding for no reason. Of course...nice as Hojou was, he was more dense than anything.

Taji simply nodded at him and turned so he could head in the direction of the infirmary, but before he left the hallway he turned and looked over his shoulder. "I'll give ya the notes after class."

Ignoring Hojou's thanks, Taji simply concentrated on walking. He looked closely at the four wounds in his palm and he frowned. They weren't the normal crescent moon shaped marks; they were much deeper and some what pin-pointed. He swore under his breath and went to wash his hand off in the bathroom, completely forgoing the infirmary.

OoOoO

Yasuo dropped his backpack on the ground of his room and collapsed into his bed. His day had just seemed to go on and on and no matter what he did he couldn't push these strange thoughts out of his head. He tried to suppress them and tried to change them but when he did that he just ended up with a headache.

_There was the smell of blood around him, and he could feel that he had just done something, something horrible as he looked around at the dead bodies near him. "A-ane-ue?"_

"NO!" Yasuo grunted out, pulling his pillow over his head.

_"Shut up and get out of here!" a young woman with red eyes yelled at him. Her face was mixed with anger and regret...he knew it was a strange look for her._

Yasuo tried to force the images out, but they were coming too fast now.

A field...

A family...

A village...

A protector...

A baby with white hair...

A sister...

Yasuo screamed.

OoOoO

Taji skipped the rest of the day's classes to attempt to collect his thoughts. He actually contemplated going to see Shippou, Sesshoumaru or hell even _Kouga_ to try and figure out what was going on. It took only a few hours to convince himself that it couldn't be too serious, except that he really needed to trim his nails.

He filed the day away to the back of his mind, right now, it didn't matter.

Checking his watch, Taji made a face and, yet again, cursed under his breath. Sesshoumaru would be done with his meetings and, though he wouldn't mention anything else from the day, he did have to know about Yasuo.

It didn't even take him ten minutes to get down to the office building. He walked right past the security guard, who waved lazily from his booth before going back to reading the magazine he had looked up from. Taji repeated the process several times past different guards, a few of whom actually looked up once they caught his scent. One even flipped him off without looking up from the television.

He reached Sesshoumaru's office without incident and opened the doors without knocking. The office was the same, including the now obvious spots where his swords and Hiraikotsu should have been.

Sesshoumaru was on the phone, looking like the egomaniac and incredibly powerful youkai that he was. He was sitting back with a small headset on, the tips of his fingers touching each other as he spoke, in perfectly unaccented English, to someone on the phone.

"No, I don't care what the cost is." He paused and listened for a moment. "You can't possibly be serious. No, I'll still pay it. Yes...yes...Nathaniel, just sign the damn contract!"

He hit the end button on his phone and threw the headset down on his desk. "That idiot," he muttered, this time in Japanese.

Taji smirked, not understanding most of the conversation, but happy with how it sounded. "Sounds like fun."

Sesshoumaru glared at him. "Merely another reminder of wny I do my own bussines. But, I assume you had another reason for cutting class today?" He returned Taji's smirk. "Your mother will not be pleased. And neither am I, as I paid your tuition."

"Yeah, like hell you care," Taji snorted. "But it's a nice thought that 'kaa-san will appreciate, I'm sure." Taji folded his arms and the two stared each other down for a few minutes before Sesshoumaru snapped.

"You're starting to act more and more like that idiot ever day. State your business and leave!" Sesshoumaru growled.

Unfolding his arms, Taji began to wander around the office, taking a look at the different weapons as he spoke. "It's about Yasuo." The air seemed to become slightly colder and Sesshoumaru sat up, indicating for Taji to continue.

"I think we're going to be looking at some real damage control because Kohaku's definitely awakening."

OoOoO

Kiyoraka Yukiko kicked off her shoes and walked into the house while she hummed to herself. She had just finished running her errands, a bit later than normal, and immediately started for the kitchen to make herself, and her sons, a snack. She noticed that Yasuo's shoes were near the front door, but she didn't see Kazuo's. Figuring he was still with his friends, or out nearly getting himself killed, she let it go.

That was when she heard the scream.

The mother's heart stopped for the briefest of moments. She felt herself on auto pilot as all thoughts of what the scream was for came to mind.

Her son was hurt. Sick. Dead. In danger.

Disregarding her own safety, she ran up the stairs to her youngest son's room. Throwing open the door and preparing herself for the worst, she was almost relieved to see that there appeared to be no injury.

Looks are deceiving.

Yukiko rushed to Yasuo's side and tried to pry his hands from his head. He was still screaming and had now begun thrashing around in his bed.

"YASUO!" Yukiko yelled, nearly hysterical. "Stop! It's me, it's mama! Please, calm down!" She looked around the room, tears in her eyes and saw the portable phone on the bed side table. She was about to use it to call for an ambulance when he suddenly started to scream louder. She held him tightly and willed as much as she could for the pain to be gone, for someone else to come home and help her so she could get him to a hospital.

And then it stopped.

Yukiko felt her son trembling as she held him and she gently let go. "Yasuo?" she whispered, shocked that her voice wasn't trembling. "Yasuo, are you okay? Should I call a doctor?"

Yasuo didn't respond and instead sat up, quickly, nearly knocking his mother off the bed. His dark eyes were wild and frightened as he took in the room. His breath sped up and he swallowed hard. His gaze then shifted to Yukiko and he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Who are you?" Yukiko's eyes went wide. "Where am I? What is this place?" he demanded.

Yukiko had to force herself to keep it together now. "Yasuo...it's okay."

"Don't call me that! That's not my name!" he yelled back, still incredibly fearful of his surroundings.

"Okay, okay," Yukiko agreed, nodding hastily. "What is your name then?"

He seemed to be summing her up, checking to see if she was trust worthy. Finally, after what seemed hours for Yukiko, he answered. "Kohaku."

To be continued...

My thanks again, and as always, to those who favorite, review, and folllow this. I promise the next chapter will be on time.


	8. Beyond Time

Told you I would be on time this week! And it's Nanowrimo! Oh man, this year is killing me. Last year I kicked ass, this year...not as much. But hopefully I'll finish this fanfic through Nano.

Rating: T, some angst, but even that's crappy angst.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

**The Path of Destiny **

**Chapter 8**

**Beyond Time**

Kaori kicked a rock while she walked down the street with Kazuo in step in front of her. _Damn Taji. Making me walk home with the pervert! Where the hell is he anyway?_

He had disappeared sometime after lunch, according to Hojou. Hojou had also stated that his hand was bleeding and he had gone to the infirmary. Kaori had checked and Taji hadn't stepped foot in the infirmary. It pissed her off.

Ahead of Kaori, Kazuo winced as her heard vaguely muttered threats of violence against Taji. There was one particular thing that always, always stuck to him. DO NOT PISS HER OFF. It was a mantra from his former life. Sango was beautiful, graceful, and caring. Don't even THINK about It though.

He rolled his head backwards a little and smiled at the fuming Kaori. She seemed to sense his eyes on her and stopped muttering when their eyes met. Instead, she was now blushing, which made Kazuo smile just a little bit more.

"What?" she inquired. She crossed her arms and glared at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Kazuo stopped walking, which caused Kaori to stop as well. He turned to her put his face very close to hers, just managing to not smile at the shock on her face. He put himself as close to her as possible, making sure their faces were only inches away. "Well, that's..." he began, his voice low.

"That's?" Kaori prompted, slightly short of breath. He was close, very close. Her mouth was dry, and her palms were sweaty and this was very, very bad. She wasn't used to him being this close to her and though she fought it, she couldn't help it when her heart beat a little faster.

The image was shattered by a familiar caressing along her backside, but Kaori didn't even have the time to react when she heard a familiar cooing sound coming from behind her.

Kazuo forgotten, or at least added to her slowly getting longer 'Kill Later' list, Kaori whirled around and stared. A small, familiar, golden cat jumped between the two of them. Her two tails was tipped with black and there was something in her eyes that spoke intelligence. In shock, Kaori kneeled down to get a look at this small cat, but she already knew.

"Kirara?"

OoOoO

"I answered your question, now, who are you?" Kohaku asked. "I don't remember you." He concentrated as hard as he could, trying to sort out his memories but everything was blurry. He just couldn't quite grasp anything yet.

Yukiko shook her head, unsure of how to answer. There was the obvious answer, but somehow she knew he wouldn't believe that. And now, as she thought deeper, she had heard the name before, but never from her son. Her eyes widened, a conversation from months ago flitted through her mind. When Kazuo had sat down and explained the past to her and her husband, he had mentioned someone named Kohaku.

_But it just can't be,_ Yukiko thought. "I'm..." she began.

"I'm home!" Kazuo called from downstairs. "Okaa-san! Kaori's here, but we need to go to see Sesshoumaru so we're just grabbing a snack!"

Kohaku's eyes darted between the woman in front of him to the two places that were his escape route. The door was open, the window wasn't. He couldn't take in all the strange sorcery around him and one thing was certain: he didn't know this woman. Years of training did him some good and he was able to jump over the kneeling woman and run out the door.

"YASUO!"

Kohaku ran down the stairs and crashed into the wall that was at the end of stairwell. Unstopping, he pushed himself up and took off again, only this time to crash into a person, sending both of them to the ground. Kohaku's head hit the hard ground and he grunted in pain as stars swam behind his eyes.

Kazuo rubbed his head, which also had hit the ground and swore. "Yasuo?!" he asked. "What's going on?" He sat up and saw that his brother was still on the ground.

Kaori stepped past Kazuo and kneeled down next to Kohaku. "Yasuo-kun, is everything all right?"

"Kaori-chan, be careful!" Yukiko called as she came down the stairs. "He's saying weird things, that he's not Yasuo!"

Kohaku opened his eyes and stood up too fast. He nearly fell right back to the ground but steadied himself by grabbing onto a nearby wall. He swallowed and glanced around, looking for another avenue of escape. When his eyes landed on Kaori, though, he stopped and suddenly, everything seemed okay again.

"Ane-ue?"

Kohaku pushed himself off from the wall. She was a little different. Her hair was a bit shorter and it was lighter, she also seemed to be shorter herself. Moreover, her clothes were odd...she seemed to be wearing Kagome's clothes, actually. He heard a soft cooing and looked down. Kirara was there, and that clinched it. "Ane-ue!"

"Oh shit," Kazuo whispered, fumbling inside his pockets for the cell phone Sesshoumaru had given him. "Shit, shit, SHIT!" he hissed as he smashed Taji's number into his phone, completely forgetting he was on speed dial.

Kaori licked her lips and took a slow breath. She hadn't been prepared for this, but she knew exactly what to do. Everything came naturally to her. Her mind was on autopilot after Kirara jumped into Kohaku's arms to console him. "Kiyoraka-san...please sit down and let me handle this." Yukiko looked ready to protest. "Now!" She did what Kaori told her to and took a seat in the living room, nearly collapsing in it.

Now, Kaori turned her attention to Kohaku. She managed a smile, though she felt some tears in her eyes. She had few memories of Kohaku after Naraku's death, almost all that remained in her mind was the pain. "Kohaku."

OoOoOo

Taji had only walked two steps away from Sesshoumaru's office when his phone rang. He knew the ring and cursed aloud. Kazuo. Probably wanted to know where he was. "What?" Taji demanded.

"Get over to my house. Now," Kazuo hissed in a whisper. Taji opened his mouth to reply, but Kazuo cut him off, prepared for his questions. "Kohaku's here." The line went dead.

Turning, Taji threw the doors open and saw the Sesshoumaru was standing behind his desk, Tenseiga at his side. "I take it things have progressed faster than normal?" he inquired as though talking about the weather.

Glaring, Taji began walking out of the room again. "Dunno. Kazuo just said that it was Kohaku." Something suddenly clicked in his mind. "But he didn't say that he had...shit!"

He ran ahead of Sesshoumaru, not caring when he began to yell at him to stop. He reached the stairwell and was about to run down when something stopped him. Sesshoumaru grabbed him by the back of his uniform and held him up so the two were eye-level. They stared at each other before the elder spoke.

"If you are going to act like a child, this Sesshoumaru shall treat you as such." He dropped Taji to the ground. He calmly walked ahead of Taji, who followed him with a glare fixed on his face. It covered his worry. But even he noticed that Sesshoumaru was taking the steps two at a time.

OoOoOo

Kaori had one goal in her mind: keep Kohaku occupied. She didn't want him to look around, or try to understand why she looked different and was wearing strange clothes. She didn't know what he remembered either...did he know his life had ended centuries before? That he had finally defeated Naraku and had, in her mind, triumphed?

She decided to start with the basics. "It's been a long time, Kohaku." She smiled, a bit shakily. "Are you well?"

Kohaku returned her smile but then, he began to look confused. "I'm fine, Ane-ue. But," he glanced around, "what is this place? Do you know that woman?" He pointed to where his mother was sitting in the living room and noticed that she stiffened.

Kaori and Kazuo's eyes met for a brief second before Kazuo took charge of the situation. Kirara being there was an added comfort, he was sure of that. "Sango-"

"Sango?" Yukiko interrupted, shocked.

"SANGO," Kazuo emphasized, looking at his mother sharply, "I'm going to take Kiyoraka-san outside. I think she could use some fresh air."

"Yes," Kaori said, looking relieved. "That's for the best. Thank you, Houshi-sama."

Yukiko's eyes widened. She knew that name. She allowed herself to be led out of the house by her older son, reality setting in. "He's..."

Kazuo nodded. "Gone." His face was grim and his mind was racing, and praying, that Kaori could handle this alone. He desperately wanted to be back there, for both of them, but Kohaku only knew him as his sister's husband, or maybe even only as a traveling companion..

"He can't be gone!" Yukiko exclaimed. "He was fine this morning, and...and...he's not like you!"

That comment stung a lot more than Kazuo let on. He'd heard it several times in the past months, about how Yasuo had his act together. Yasuo wasn't going and trying to get himself killed. Yasuo knew who he was.

Despite that, he had never held any contempt in his heart for his brother. Pity had long ago been used up and now all that was left was the fear that awakening as Kohaku would drive Yasuo out of his mind.

Yukiko's tirade hadn't stopped. She was panicking, and for good reason, but it didn't excuse what she was saying.

"He can't be...he just can't be," she whispered.

Kazuo set his mouth in a firm line. The words were there, right there. He had barely opened his mouth when he heard the sound of footsteps coming closer.

"KAZUO!" Shippou yelled as he came running across the grounds, Ayame following close behind him. "We just heard from Sesshoumaru, Kouga will be here soon."

Sighing in relief, Kazuo managed to smile. "Hey."

His relief turned to panic when he noticed his father was right behind Ayame.

"What's going on?" Daichi demanded. "Yukiko!"

Shippou rolled his eyes as Yukiko began to spill out some story about possession, because he wasn't a reincarnation. "Yeah, so anyway, is Kaori in there?"

Kazuo kept one eye on his family. "Yeah, she's taking care of it for now. Kirara just showed up earlier today, so she's helping. I think they'll need more help once things start to sink in. He seemed very unpredictable. But, he just awoke in a strange room with strange people."

Ayame approached the window and peaked inside. "Deep inside, we were all hoping for him to stay asleep, weren't we?" she whispered.

"We all had our fair share of pain," Kazuo looked pointedly at his right hand. He gripped and flexed it a few times. "But what Naraku did to Kohaku and Sango was never forgivable. I know I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I had been in his shoes."

"What are you talking about, Kazuo?" Daichi demanded, an arm around Yukiko. "Does this have to do with...with...?"

Scoffing, Ayame folded her arms. "Taji mentioned you two took this badly, but not being able to say 'reincarnation' is a bit much, don't you think?"

"Ayame!" Shippou hissed, but was waved off by her. She had a wolfish grin that made her appear slightly more evil than normal. "Or is it the youkai thing...?" she let the statement hang in the air and cracked her knuckles.

"Stop, Ayame." The group looked up as Taji arrived with Sesshoumaru right behind him.

Daichi stepped forward, his face obviously displaying his anger. "This is all YOUR-"

Taji didn't blink. "Yeah, my fault. You wanna get down to it, it all is. I attacked Kikyou, I took the Shikon, blah blah blah didn't tell Kagome..." He stood toe to toe with the two adults. "Whaddya gonna do about it?" They didn't answer and Taji just smirked. "Come on, bouzu."

Despite the situation, Kazuo had to smile at the name.

Kouga showed up just as the door closed, his clothing askew from the run. "Damn, am I too late?"

Sesshoumaru did not answer and instead took the place that Taji had just vacated before the Kiyoraka's. His long white hair moved in a soft breeze and he almost smiled before he spoke. "If you find your sons too disgusting to be in your presence anymore, than you may leave this life behind. However, I must have you review the renters contract that you signed when you moved in here. It explicitly states that if you leave the grounds, custody of both your sons is given to me and they will be staying here. Unless they want to leave."

There was a ringing silence following Sesshoumaru's declaration. Even Kouga had to gape at Sesshoumaru's plot.

"It does NOT say that!" Yukiko exclaimed.

Sesshoumaru smirked. "Perhaps you should read before you sign anything." His face and voice suddenly became more serious. "This Sesshoumaru does not care what you think, but they are an important part to the survival of both our worlds. You were told most of the story of what happened when the miko traveled to the past, but not all. It was on the houshi and taijiya's request that we left out anything that dealt with Kohaku. He played an important role then, he will play one this time should he wish. Nothing you say or do can change the past. In this case, you cannot even change their future.

"I state again, you are free to leave, but heed this warning; should even one thing go wrong in this time you will never know it." Sesshoumaru pivoted and walked back across the grounds, ignoring the people he left behind.

Kouga whistled. "Damn, even I didn't know about the contracts."

Shippou, however, kept his narrowed gaze on the Kiyoraka's, who couldn't even look each other in the eye.

OoOoO

Kohaku was walking around the room, taking in different appliances and all the colors. To his credit, he didn't touch anything, or even ask any questions about them. He just seemed to be in awe, though he was much more relaxed now that he knew that Sango was there.

Kaori, or Sango as it were, was trying not to have a nervous breakdown. She kept her eyes glued upon her brother and tried to think of how she could explain, how she could even start the conversation. Kirara was doing what she could to keep him calm by simply being there. Her presence had that effect on people.

But he had to know, he had to let the body go.

"We're in Kagome-sama's country, aren't we?"

The question caught her off guard. "Huh? Wh-what makes you say that?" Kaori stammered out.

"You're wearing the same clothes she does, and there's a lot of weird things...it just reminds me of her and all those weird things she has." He smiled fondly, as though remembering the first time he had been introduced to some of those weird things.

Kaori let out her breath. "Yes, we're in Kagome-chan's country." Kohaku nodded and went back to examining things around the room. "Kohaku...what is the last thing you remember?"

It was she who caught Kohaku off guard this time. He stopped studying a painting of a lighthouse and faced her, his brow furrowed. "What?"

"The last thing you remember," she rushed out. "I need to know."

It was definitely a strange request, but she was his sister. Kohaku closed his eyes and thought back. "Ane-ue, you should remember, too! Kikyou-sama purified my shard and I was protecting Rin for Sesshoumaru."

"And then?"

Slowly, Kohaku opened his eyes and turned his head. "Nothing. There's nothing after that."

Kaori let out her breath slowly, her chest becoming tight. He remembered it all. He remembered everything he had done, been forced to do, he didn't remember the rest of his life and all the good he had done as a taijiya.

The door opened and both Taji and Kazuo stepped through the door. And having heard the last moments of the conversation, Taji opened his mouth to step in.

"Of course there wouldn't be anything after that," Kaori whispered before Taji could.

"Ane-ue?" Kohaku asked, surprised and almost fearful.

Kazuo stepped forward. "Kaori..."

Taji shook his head and placed his arm in front of Kazuo, to stop him. Kazuo got the message and stopped. She just needed them to be there.

Kaori walked over to Kohaku and felt a different part of her take over, the one that she did hide as much as possible. She kneeled down in front of him. She knew they could stretch this out, make him believe that something else had happened. It could be done, Sesshoumaru had the money to do it, but she also knew that it wouldn't change anything. There was just one thing that Sango wanted: she wanted this to be done on her terms. "Kohaku, I'm sorry. For you, there was so much more after that, but I couldn't...I tried so hard, but I couldn't prepare for this."

It was quiet before Kohaku tried to speak again. "I don't understand, Ane-ue. I...that just happened, didn't it?"

"It happened 500 years ago, Kohaku," Kaori replied softly.

Shaking his head, Kohaku looked around. "But that's Miroku-sama and that's..." He glanced at Taji and narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"

"Inuyasha," Taji replied.

"Inuyasha's a hanyou."

Kazuo stepped in. "He was in his previous life. As I was a houshi and Sango was a taijiya."

"That's not possible!" Kohaku exclaimed. "It was just earlier today, wasn't it? Ane-ue!

He tried to take a step away from Kaori, but she grabbed him by his arms and stopped him. "Kohaku, please, you need to listen to us."

"Let go of me! You're not Ane-ue, who are you people?" he demanded, now frightened.

None of them answered right away. "I'm not your Ane, you're right about that," she told him, her voice still shaking. "But I was. I remember being her. It's all right here," she patted her heart. "We used to go out together and play in fields, Kirara would go with us. You'd pick me flowers and then we'd go home and train." Kohaku was shaking his head, trying to deny what she was saying. "You were afraid that chichi-ue wasn't proud of you! But he was...he was always so proud of you."

"Stop lying!" Kohaku yelled. He tried to make a break for the door, but Kirara was there, she stopped in front of the door that caused Kohaku to halt as well. "Kirara..."

"I'm not lying!" Kaori told him, tears in her eyes. "Kohaku, please, realize it! Remember it! You died, you've been dead and now you're reborn as Kazuo's little brother, Yasuo." She wiped her tears with her palm. "You remember, don't you? Kikyou-sama and Kagome-chan." Kohaku nodded. "Well this is just like that, but with only one body."

Shaking a bit, Kohaku knelt down and picked Kirara back up again. He knew her, she hadn't changed, and she was telling him what he needed to know. Swallowing hard, Kohaku faced Kazuo. "You're...the houshi, Miroku. Kazuo?" Kazuo nodded. Kohaku faced Taji and studied him closely. Finally, he broke the gaze and closed his eyes. "But then why am I here? If I'm dead than someone else takes my place and things move on. I'm not supposed to be here."

"But you are supposed to remember," Kaori told him. "Like us. We're here to make sure that Kagome-chan makes it back alive, and to do that we needed to remember who we were." She thought for a moment. "Rin's here, too."

"Rin?" Kohaku looked up, slightly startled at the mention of her name.

"She's my younger sister," Taji input. "She's also your, that is Yasuo's, friend."

Kohaku's lip trembled as things began to make more and more sense to him. The darkness and the pain...everything. "I need to go back to sleep, don't I?"

"Not so much," Kaori reassured him. "We don't want you to sleep, but you can't just take over Yasuo either."

"I can't just...give it back, it's strange. I don't know how." He sank down the ground and lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Ane-ue."

She reached her hand out towards him. "You didn't kn-"

Kohaku knocked her hand away and Kirara jumped back down to the ground. "Not just for this! For everything! I never got to tell you, you know?" he asked. "We were always on the run, even after Kagura died, I could never tell you that..." tears fell from his eyes. "I'm sorry!"

"Kohaku..." Taji muttered.

"To you, too, Inuyasha! And Miroku-sama...Kagome-sama...I didn't want to do those things, I really, really..."

Kaori wrapped her arms around Kohaku and hugged him tightly. They stayed like that until finally something inside of Kohaku seemed to melt away and he slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

"KOHAKU!" Kaori exclaimed as he slumped against her. Kazuo ran forward and kneeled beside them as well. The two of them laid him down on the ground and breathed a sigh of relief when they noticed he was still breathing.

Taji just shook his head and walked back outside to report to the others what was going on.

OoOoO

Sesshoumaru was waiting for Taji in his study. Even from the great distance he could hear what was going on. Taji approached the others outside the home. He conversed with them for a few moments before yelling something and storming away. Kouga appeared to be attempting not to laugh at the situation, though he could tell that the Kiyoraka's were very upset.

_They should be._

He didn't have long to wait before Taji was in his office only a few minutes later, still grumbling and swearing under his breath. It amused him, but he had to know what the verdict was. "So?"

Taji fell into the nearest chair and hit his head, several times, against the back. It took several minutes of self-inflicted pain before he answered. "I told them to stay away for a day or two. Kaori and Kazuo will handle this until we can get a balance maintained between Kohaku and Yasuo."

"A good idea. Will they actually stay away?"

With a smile, Taji shook his head. "Only cause I actually DID read that contract that I heard you talking about, and I know you weren't lying. Despite the fact that it's evil, well, can't say it wasn't a good idea."

Sesshoumaru returned the smirk and faced the grounds again. It had been a last minute addition, on Ayame's advice, he'd hate to have to use it, but at the same time he needed the children more than he needed Tetsusaiga right now.

OoOoO

Somewhere in downtown Tokyo, a young woman pulled the cover off her sports car. She lovingly inspected every inch of it and made sure it was just as she had left it before she had sent it home from Italy. No dings, no scratches. Not even a bit of dust.

She smiled and flipped her long hair over her shoulder. It was midday now, but she had things to do before she went home. She'd go tomorrow, after she made sure her apartment was still as she'd left it six years ago.

She thought of how long it had been since she'd been home and was almost certain that it would be interesting to be back. She put her sunglasses on to cover her dark eyes and grinned. "Interesting...is only one word for it."

To Be Continued...

Well I know one of my readers out there is going to be happy. :)

Thank you for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting my story! You have my greatest appreciation.


	9. One of THOSE Days

This chapter is a big 'wtf' thing, but for the character I'm putting in here...heh.

I try not to do too much with the Japanese, but in this case, I couldn't help it. I felt that, for the character, it was hard to translate how I wanted this to convey.

-chan: The honorific "-chan" is usually used to express being close with someone (Sango and Kagome call each other "Sango-chan" and "Kagome-chan", though you wouldn't find Inuyasha and Miroku doing this), or that they are below you, usually that they are younger than you. It is also a way of addressing young children.

Sora's use of "-chan" is, for the most part, none of these. It's actually demeaning and rude to say them to some of the people she does. Which is what I was going for. The proper use in this case would have been to have her drop the honorific all together for Kaori and use "-kun" or no honorific for the boys.

Rating: PG-13 cause...yeah _

Disclaimer: Not mine!

**The Path of Destiny **

**Chapter 9**

**One of THOSE Days**

Sora didn't bat an eyelash as she cruised down the streets of Tokyo. It had taken a little bit of digging, almost four months worth of digging, but she had finally found the information she was looking for. What her family was doing so far away from where they had lived. At first she had to wonder if something had happened, if there was anything that she wasn't aware of financially. She made a good living, they could have asked for help at any time, but never did.

Her family was strong; they had only mentioned that to suit her sister's educational needs they had moved. No better excuse, just a quick card stating they had moved for her sister's education. It didn't sit well with her, but her solution sure did.

She pulled up to the entrance of the high school and parked her car. It was lunchtime and she had someone to see.

OoOoO

Taji was pouting near the edge of the school building, a new lump on his head from Kaori hitting him. He'd been teasing her about making lunch for Kazuo, again, and had ended up being beaten by her, again. Secretly, he smiled. Somehow, he felt greatly relieved that he was interfering with them. It was one weight off his chest.

He didn't want to say anything, but ever since the incident earlier in the week he could feel something different between the two of them. Something good and different. It made him feel slightly better about the situation. Relieved, almost, that things were getting to be more normal.

Glancing over his shoulder, he rolled his eyes at the two. They were sitting about a foot away from each other and both were stumbling through a conversation while blushing. 'The sexual tension sure ain't getting any easier to deal with.'

He glanced out at the edge of the campus and sighed. He had wanted to stay home today, but Sesshoumaru had threatened to tell his mother he skipped class before, so it didn't work out well. Just made him that much more anxious to get back at him, but he'd get his in time.

Taji rolled his eyes when a very shiny red sports car suddenly pulled in the parking lot. It stopped so quickly that the sudden breeze that came afterwards seemed to come from it. He squinted his eyes because something, deep in his memory, was triggered. The woman who emerged was beautiful, he could see that. She was walking towards the school with a definite purpose.

Taji's eye's widened. "Shit! Kaori!"

Kaori looked up and both she and Kazuo briskly walked to the side where Taji was gaping at. Kazuo didn't react, but it only took three seconds for Kaori to swear and head for the stairs.

Taji, and a completely confused Kazuo, followed her.

"What's going on?" Kazuo yelled as they took the steps two at a time. "Who is that woman?"

Taji threw a confused look back at Kazuo. "You don't know?"

"NO!"

Kaori jumped the last six stairs and right onto the lawn where she continued to run to the woman who was now at the gates of the school.

The boys followed, and Taji didn't have to explain because Kaori yelled at the woman. "ONEE-CHAN!"

Kazuo almost stopped in his tracks. "O-onee-chan?"

OoOoO

Miyamoto Sora grinned broadly as her sister approached. It had been years and she hadn't even see a picture of her, so to look at the young woman she had become was something else. She easily recognized Taji, but she had no idea who the other young man was, handsome though he was.

"ONEE-CHAN!"

Kaori ran up and stopped short of her sister, a look of both shock and happiness on her face. She was breathing hard and didn't say anything else as she caught her breath.

Sora took action and threw her arms around her little sister. "Kaori-chan! Oh, it's been so long, let me see," she looked her sister up and down again and nodded her head encouragingly. "Yes, yes, definitely my sister. You've got the boys dropping all around you, don't you?"

"Only literally," Taji muttered under his breath, having finally gotten Kazuo to move. The two leaned against their knees to catch their breath. Taji didn't think that there was any way Sora could have heard him.

"Oh, and Taji-chan, look at you, too!" she exclaimed while letting Kaori go. "You've gotten so handsome!" Taji blushed, but did manage a glare at her. Sora didn't flinch. "But of course, I always knew you would. And let's see, yes, that uniform just does NOTHING for you." She shook her head. "Now, at least the green does well for Kaori-chan." She motioned to Kaori, as though it made her point entirely.

Taji began to sputter a response back, but as always when it came to Sora, he found himself unable to. Kaori leaned over at this time and spoke in a low voice to Kazuo. "My sister, Miyamoto Sora. She's twelve years older than me. Since she graduated high school when she was seventeen, she's been out traveling the world. Seeing the sights. Managed to get picked up by an Italian based clothing design company before she was twenty. She's been with them since. Last time I saw her was...when I was ten. She visited very briefly during a business trip."

Kazou nodded and then furrowed his brow. Still, he felt something very familiar from this woman. Sure, she was Kaori's sister, but Kaori wasn't nearly as flamboyant as Sora was.

"There, Taji-chan, you don't have to say anything," Sora continued, as though Taji wasn't attempting to interrupt her. "I just know this person who would be able to do wonderful things for your hair and-"

"Onee-chan!" Kaori interrupted, exasperated. She had forgotten that Sora took a liking to Taji when he was young and had been very stuck on him, and more than that how he looked to the public eye, since he was three. "Taji's just fine the way he is."

Sora flipped her hair back and smiled. "Does that mean you two are going out?"

"WHERE WOULD YOU GET AN IDEA THAT STUPID?!" Taji, Kaori, and Kazuo all demanded at the same time.

Sora's eyes flicked from the boy with long hair to the boy with short hair and she smiled again. "Oh, and who is this one? My, my, does your taste get better and better, Kaori-chan. Taji-chan isn't right for you anyway, he's very, oh what's the word I'm looking for...obtuse!"

Taji lunged towards Sora, attempting to reach her neck, but Kaori stopped him.

Kazuo, however, took this has his opportunity. "Well, if my ears have heard correctly, you are the lovely Kaori's elder sister."

"Kaori wouldn't look that good on her own, now would she? I send her care packages every month with suggestions and make-up."

The comment almost, ALMOST, made Kaori let go of Taji.

"Well, now that's not fair is it? She does quiet well on her own, I think." That comment did make her drop Taji and just stare at Kazuo as he went on. "She is her own woman through and through."

Sora smirked. "I like you, kid. What's your name?"

"Kiyoraka Kazuo, Sora-san."

The bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period and Taji sighed in relief. Kaori was still in shock from what Kazuo had said and barely heard Sora speak.

"Well, it sounds like you must go back to your books. I'll be back after school today to pick you up. We will continue this conversation at that time, Kazuo-chan!" With that, she turned away and walked back to her car.

Taji furrowed his brow and watched as she walked away. His vision blurred and for a moment he could have swore she looked like...

"Oh shit."

Kaori snapped out of her stupor and focused on her friends once more. "Taji?"

"Sora...she's...no way..."

Kazuo nodded his head, confirming what Taji was saying. "Oh yes, I do believe it is her."

"Her?" Kaori whispered, slightly confused. A gust of wind suddenly blew, causing her to cover her face from the sand. When it was over, her eyes were wide with shock. "I'm with Taji on this one...oh shit."

OoOoO

Sora blasted her music and paid no mind to the other drivers on the road. She had thoroughly enjoyed herself at her sister's school and was heading to where her parents lived now. Her entire trunk was full of gifts from Europe and she needed to unpack them before she picked up her sister and friends.

She pulled into the parking lot that was nearest to the house and searched for a place that wasn't too far, but wasn't close to other cars. "Ah-ha!" she muttered softly as she cruised into an open, and very good, parking spot.

Ignoring the obvious towing warnings, she grabbed one bag of her goodies and closed the trunk again as she headed to the house. According to the card her parents had sent, they were just across the lawn. And, knowing them, they would leave at least one window open so she could sneak in while they were at work and drop off the stuff before going back to get the others.

As Sora trudged across the grassy field to the house in the distance, she took in her sights, impressed at where they were. At first she had assumed that things were bad for her family. That idea was quickly tossed out the window and she instead did some research on the area they moved to. It was apparently owned by a very wealthy businessman and he had never taken on renters outside of his family. So to do so now...it did seem suspicious. Which was why she came home. Or, part of the reason.

She was about halfway across the field when she noticed that there were two lumps closer to the houses and if she was right, she knew at least one of them. She picked up the pace and stopped when she reached the two little lumps, who turned out to be two children.

A boy, probably about twelve years old was lying next to a girl, who couldn't have been out of elementary school yet. But, while she had never seen the boy before in this life, she knew who the little girl was for sure.

"Su-chan, what are you doing home from school?" She kneeled down into the grass. "You're not sick again are you?"

Sumiko blinked at the woman kneeling next to her and sat up quickly, a look of shock on her face. She knew this woman, just barely though. She remembered one night, when she was very small, she had watched over her when she was running a fever. "Sora...nee?"

Sora smiled and nodded, impressed that she remembered her. "Wow, you've gotten so big! But are you feeling okay? I know when I heard from Kaori, as she wrote just so often, she mentioned you were still sick a lot."

Kohaku looked at the woman very carefully, but chose to not say anything even though he sat up. It had only been a couple of days since he had awakened and there were times where he could remember parts of the life that he was supposed to be living, Yasuo's life, and other times where it seemed that Yasuo was ready to take over. He didn't know how to go back, but he was trying very hard.

Rin, or Sumi as she was now called, was helping him find that balance. It had been Kazuo's idea for the two of them to spend more time together. He had started trying to correct himself whenever he talked to her by calling her Sumi, or Sumiko, but she had said that Rin was okay. Sesshoumaru still called her Rin.

But, he knew this woman, but that wasn't possible, unless Yasuo was trying to tell him something. Unless... Kohaku stood up, mouth open in shock. "You!"

Sumi and Sora looked up at the young boy. Sumi looked confused, but Sora managed to smile slightly. "Yes, me. And I see it's you. Well, I'd appreciate it if you'd keep this secret for now. There's more fun to be had. Su-chan, I'll see you later, okay?"

As she walked away, Sumi turned so she was facing Kohaku. "Do you know her, Kohaku?"

"Yeah...we do, Rin."

OoOoO

A couple hours later, Sora was heading back to her car for the final time, a slight bounce in her step. She had known about Sumiko, but not about the boy. It did worry her though, while the others seemed to be just aware of what was going on, he was completely awake. Those eyes were the eyes of someone who had seen horrors that no person should have to endure. She could see them as she got to the parking lot; they were talking vigorously, probably about her.

She stopped short at her car when she saw that someone was leaning on it. Unknowingly, she sucked in a breath when she realized who it was. Then again...she smiled and lifted her chin, he was part of the reason she was here as well.

"Hey!" Sora yelled as she approached. "Get your ass off of my car! Do you have any idea how much I'll have to pay to get those prints waxed out?"

Sesshoumaru raised his eyebrows at the woman before him. A great part of him wanted to laugh aloud at her audacity. Of course, that was squashed quite quickly by the way she was standing, directly challenging him and any authority he hoped to have. Instead, he didn't move.

Sora narrowed her eyebrows. She knew this wouldn't be easy, but damn that man. "I said-"

"I heard what you said, woman," Sesshoumaru drawled. "I just don't care to move. This is, after all, my parking space that you have so gracefully taken."

Sora crossed her arms. "I don't see your name on it."

Sesshoumaru turned his head and glanced at the sign that was in front of the car. It very clearly read 'Reserved: Sesshoumaru. President.'

If the sign even fazed Sora, she didn't show it. She read the sign and carefully made eye contact with the man in front of her. "And your point is what?"

That did faze Sesshoumaru. "Woman, I-"

"I have a name!" Sora snapped as she walked closer to her car. She opened the door and sat down, but was very careful to get as close to Sesshoumaru as possible when she did so. She noticed that he did stiffen, which made her want to rub in his face that he hadn't been paying attention, or she was wearing too much perfume. He was off her car almost immediately, but he was somehow slow while turning to face her. Before he could make eye contact again she said, "It's Miyamoto Sora!" and slammed the door.

Her car was in gear and out of the parking lot seconds later and as she passed the tow truck that was on its way in, she couldn't help but laugh.

Damn but revenge was good.

OoOoO

"It's possible your sister may not know."

"We hope she doesn't, you mean."

"She seemed to be teasing us too much to not know."

"That's how Onee-chan's always been."

"Flamboyant?"

"Stupid?"

"Taji!"

"So...what are we going to do?" Kazuo interrupted. "I mean...if she IS..."

"Same thing we always do."

"Let them figure it out and pray for the best?"

Taji just raised his eyebrows. "It's worked well in four of five cases. I like the odds."

"And seeing Onee-chan go insane would just be a bonus for you," Kaori said a little dryly.

"Oh, hell yes," Taji reassured her.

The group lapsed into silence while they waited for the unmistakable sound of squealing tires that would indicate that Sora had arrived. They had gone through classes in kind of a daze, which didn't shock or upset any of their teachers; they were used to it by now.

Their patient, gut wrenching, wait was rewarded only seconds after they stopped talking. The red car rounded the corner and stopped right in front of the three teens. Though everyone else who was leaving campus was impressed by the show, Kaori and the others quickly scrambled into the car and slammed the doors shut. It was a tight squeeze, but they all managed to get in.

Sora looked over the top of her sunglasses and smirked at her passengers. "Now...let's say we go do something about that bad dye job of yours, Kaori-chan."

OoOoO

Sesshoumaru didn't make it back to his office that day. In fact, after his encounter in the parking lot, it took him almost thirty minutes to even remember why he was trying to park at the houses at that time. Something in his mind didn't seem to want to function, let alone grasp what had just happened.

Instead, he spent most of the day wandering the grounds, trying to sort through what was going on and what he was feeling. Feeling? That was a new one, but he couldn't deny it. He never thought he would see her, though. After Tenseiga refused to react he was sure she was too different and had her one shot.

Apparently, he was wrong.

Sesshoumaru waited patiently outside of the Miyamoto household. He knew they wouldn't be home for a few more hours, and that he could easily let himself in. Somehow, he felt he had to make an impression, because he knew for certain there was no such thing as a coincidence, not when it came to this.

The odds that Miyamoto Sora was not Miyamoto Kaori's relative were about as good as his idiot brother not screwing something up in the next few weeks. In other words: they were related. He even wanted to say that they, Kaori and Taji, had already known. However, she was just different enough that unless you were looking for it...you wouldn't find it.

Sesshoumaru had found it.

And he wasn't losing it this time.

OoOoO

Despite her sister's overbearing nature, Kaori was enjoying herself. As much as humanly possible. There were things that she tended to forget, such as Sora made good money and when Kaori even looked at something it ended up bought. She had somehow ended up with a duck lamp because of this.

Of course, she didn't have to carry it, oh no. That's the reason Sora had brought the boys along. Sora had once said in her letters to home that men had only two useful body parts, three if they were good. Hence, Kaori had learned through her sister about sex. Really, it was a conversation she tried to forget.

However, despite their obvious personality clash, Kaori couldn't help but feel happy as she was dragged by her arm into a salon and promptly sat down in a chair.

She didn't even have time to protest as Sora gave quick directions on what she wanted done to Kaori and the stylist set to work. Some ten minutes later, Kazuo and Taji walked in, weighed down by packages and panting heavily whilst muttering curses at Sora and Kaori.

That quick image was all that Kaori saw before her head was dunked into the water to begin.

Taji watched her head go under. "Hope she drowns," he muttered darkly, setting his packages down.

"Come now, Taji," Kazuo began while sitting, "this really is more Sora-san's fault. Kaori didn't ask for those things."

"Yeah, but she's getting spoiled!" Taji argued, almost pouting. "And we're helping!"

Kazuo was about to speak again when Sora swooped in, as though from nowhere. "Taji-chan, you're next. We must do something about that hair of yours. How do your school administrators allow you in the building with such hair?" She picked up a lock and clucked her tongue. "Isn't it against school rules?"

Taji jerked his head and glared up at Sora. "Uh-uh! You are not touching my hair!"

"Oh, but I have such a good idea!" Sora smirked and tapped her finger to her chin. "Short hair would suit you."

Taji's eyes widened and he backed further into the chair he was sitting in. Sora reached for him, and behind her were two stylists who seemed there to help.

"NOOOOOOO!"

OoOoO

Miyamoto Ami opened the door to her home, humming a tune under her breath as she groped for the light switch. In her mind, she was thinking about what to order for dinner tonight, she hadn't taken anything out to make and with the lack of food smell coming from the kitchen, Kaori hadn't started cooking.

The light in her eyes faded as she thought about her daughter and what she was probably doing right now. "Fighting a youkai, no doubt," she mumbled while she took her coat off. "Or training with the boys."

Just before she closed the door, Ami stopped and her mouth dropped. Littered all over her living room where boxes and boxes of...something. She had no idea what was in them! There were bags and boxes and just...stuff everywhere. It definitely hadn't been there when she left the house this morning, she knew that.

Ami glanced around the room, somewhat frantically, and she noticed that the window was open and the wind was blowing through it. "Sora?"

The word had barely left her mouth when the sound of someone running down the stairs caught her attention. "Sora!" she yelled as she made a break for the stairs. She nearly ran into her husband, Kenji, as he reached the bottom of the stairs. They managed to grab hold of each other without actually falling over, each slightly out of breath with excitement.

"Ami, did you see? The bags! They're from Italy!" Kenji exclaimed in delight.

Ami nodded. "I know. Sora's home!" Their excitement quickly died and Ami looked aground. "But...where is she?"

"Uhh...you don't know?" Kenji asked.

"No! I haven't seen her!"

The words had barely left their lips when they heard a giggle from behind them. Turning to the door the adults saw Sumi standing with Kohaku, and both of them had oddly superior looks about them.

"Sumi-chan," Kenji greeted, suddenly realizing what this was about. "Did someone come into our house today?"

Sumi giggled again and hopped from one foot to the other. "Sumi isn't going to say!"

Kohaku grinned a little himself. "Yeah, we can't say."

"Why not?" Ami asked.

"Because! Sora-nee said that we shouldn't!"

OoOoO

An hour later found the Miyamoto's, Naoko and even the Kiyoraka's inside the Miyamoto household attempting to extract the information from Sumi. So far, nothing had done it. Her, and Kohaku's for that matter, lips were sealed. She refused to say anything at all about what Sora had said to her.

Naoko sighed. "I think we should just stop. I've tried every method I can think of. She won't budge." She cast a glance at the two children, who were now playing a game of cards. "Sora will show when she shows. It'll probably be dramatically later tonight."

Kiyoraka Daichi looked a bit confused. "Does she have a flare for the dramatic?"

"To put it lightly," Kenji muttered. "But all the same, I'm sure our other children are with her and it is getting late."

The door opened, then, and in stepped the familiar overbearing figure of Sesshoumaru. He looked perfectly poised, as though he always entered someone's house without knocking. He surveyed those in the room and blatantly seemed to ignore Sumi when she stood up and ran to him, exclaiming, "Sesshoumaru-sama!"

"You did get my message than?" Naoko inquired, not at all fazed by the lack of invite. As it was, she was completely used to him walking in as though he owned the building. Because he did.

"What seems to be the trouble?" he inquired, noting that there were a lot more things in the Miyamoto living room than he remembered there being.

Ami and Kenji launched into a brief narrative of what was going on, and that Sumi was withholding the location of the others at this point. Although it was not a damnable offense itself, they had to consider that when the three teens went out there always seemed to be some form of youkai attack. They were worried.

Sesshoumaru turned his glance to the little girl who was managing to look as cute as she always did, despite the charges against her. "Rin?"

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?" she responded promptly.

"Rin, do you know where Miyamoto Sora is right now?" he asked as gently as he could, or would, as the case were. He tried not to come off as curious himself, but he was. He had questions for this girl. He had to be sure.

Sumi nodded her head a few times. "I know where she is. But..." she hesitated.

"But?" Sesshoumaru prompted.

"But Sora-nee-chan said I wasn't supposed to say anything! She said she had other things to do today!" She looked down and didn't meet Sesshoumaru's eyes. "I told her I wouldn't tell."

Sesshoumaru frowned. "Rin, I must know where she is."

"Get out of my way, baka!" came the strained voice of Taji from the doorway.

Sesshoumaru, and everyone else's attention, was suddenly drawn to the doorway where Taji and Kazuo were making their way through, their arms full of shopping bags. Despite himself, Sesshoumaru's faced betrayed him and showed his amusement.

"Again, Onee-chan, thank you!" Kaori exclaimed as she entered the home and pulled her shoes off. "And I'm so sorry about Taji doing all that damage to the sal..." she trailed off when she realized that everyone, literally, was sitting in her living room.

Taji and Kazuo dropped the bags and collapsed in the piles they made. "Oh, thank God!" Kazuo moaned as he rubbed his very sore arms.

Sora entered the house right after Kaori, a smirk on her face. She looked around and surveyed the situation, and the time. It was now almost seven o' clock and quite late, especially for high school students to be getting home. They all knew something was up, which made her happy, at least.

However, her eyes found their way to Sesshoumaru and that smirk just got bigger. "So, you again." Sesshoumaru didn't answer, so she continued. "Have fun contemplating who I was all day?" Everyone else's head snapped up at those words. She now had their undivided attention. "I know you figured it out, but I also know you were thinking 'How could this happen?' Because I didn't die like a mortal, or an immortal for that matter. Well," she flipped her hair over her shoulder, "one could argue that I wasn't brought back as your average mortal, either."

Ami closed her eyes and placed her hand to her forehead. "Oh no," she muttered.

Sora winked at her parents and rounded her true prey so that he was now facing inwards and she was looking at the door. "Sorry, Okaa-san, Otou-san, but I wish I could say that the only reason I came was that I came here to see you. I had a score to settle with the Great Lord of the Western Lands, Sesshoumaru."

"Hello, Kagura," Sesshoumaru greeted her. When she didn't refute it or change her stance at all, he knew he was correct.

"Kagura?" the adults echoed, lost as to who exactly 'Kagura' was. The name seemed familiar, but was more like something from a dream.

Taji, Kazuo, and Kaori all sighed and simply relaxed. Their suspicions now confirmed, the worst they saw would come of the night was having to tell a long assed story, again.

"You knew about this for how long before coming out here?" Sesshoumaru demanded.

"About four months," Sora answered in a flippant tone, looking bored.

"And you're just now here?"

"Is there a problem with that?"

"We could have used you."

"I was under the impression that I was somehow...beneath you."

"I somehow doubt you were ever under that impression."

"I see. Well, I'm here now. What are we to do?"

"Pick you up at eight."

"See you soon."

The two nodded once to each other, promptly turned on their heels and walked in opposite directions with Sora going upstairs and Sesshoumaru going outside.

Taji managed to blink. "What the fuck just happened?"

"I think Sesshoumaru just asked Sora, or Kagura I guess, out on a date?" Kohaku put in tentatively.

"Oh HELL no!"

OoOoO

Taji allowed himself to run through the streets not caring where he went or how he got there. He just had to hurry, not allow his thoughts to catch up with him. He didn't want to think about what adding Kagura to this mixture did. It was too odd...and yet he'd always known.

His feet took him to different areas of Tokyo, some that looked only vaguely familiar. It was when he turned down one street and almost literally ran into the steps leading up to the Shrine that he realized where he had been going. He did a quick mental calculation and once he was satisfied that Kagome wouldn't be home, he ran up the stairs.

The grounds were dark, but he knew them like the back of his hand, he even managed to side step the small hole in the ground that would have sent any other night visitor sprawling. When he made it to the actual Shrine he kneeled down and bowed his head as well. Somehow, just being here calmed him. It was familiar, perhaps more so than his own room.

He didn't even know what he was praying for but he sat there for what seemed like only a few seconds when he heard someone shuffling up behind him. Taji froze and tried to look as nondescript as possible. It wasn't easy, however, with his very long hair.

He could tell by the way the person walked was that they were a woman. He squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath, hoping she would leave him in peace to pray. Hoping it wasn't Kagome.

"Inuyasha-kun?"

To be continued...

Yes, there is someone who calls him "Inuyasha-kun" but it's in the manga after the anime's end soooo…

As always, thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, follows,and favorites!


	10. Lost Path

^_^ I'm so glad everyone enjoyed the last chapter! I got some very good feed back, and there were a couple of you I know were hoping for Kagura. I'm glad you feel I did her justice.

Figure it's time to update this!

Yukimura Taji - Inuyasha

Yukimura Sumiko - Rin

Miyamoto Kaori - Sango

Miyamoto Sora - Kagura

Kiyoraka Kazuo - Miroku

Kiyoraka Yasuo - Kohaku

Parents (They don't have connections to the past, these are just them):

Higurashi Kasumi

Yukimura Naoko

Miyamoto Ami

Miyamoto Kenji

Kiyoraka Yukiko

Kiyoraka Daichi

**The Path of Destiny**

**Chapter 10**

**Lost Path**

Kazuo stretched and cracked his neck as he walked outside. After explaining who Kagura was, her possible (and now completely confirmed) sexual attraction to Sesshoumaru, everyone had gone to their own homes to think about it, and wonder who was going to show up next. Sumiko had said something about "the weird baboon guy" which sped up how quickly Taji and Kazuo left the Miyamoto home.

It was nice outside and despite the earlier day, Kazuo was looking forward to what was going to probably be a lot more time with Kaori. He grinned broadly. A LOT more time with her.

Kazuo sighed and looked up at the night sky and then quickly ducked when Hiraikotsu seemed to appear from nowhere and almost come crashing down upon him. Instinctively, he rolled to the side and was up in an instant, already yelling.

"KAORI!"

"Sorry!" Kaori called back, catching Hiraikotsu effortlessly. She wiped the sweat from her brow and jogged over. "No one was out here so I thought I'd do some practicing."

"Was my house the target?" he inquired as he was eying the distance between where he was standing and his house. Give or take, it was about fifteen feet and with the Hiraikotsu being as big as it was he was surprised that his home wasn't missing a side yet.

Kaori stopped short and gave him a half-glare/half-exasperated look. "I've about given up on finding a conversation where I don't have the urge to hit you." Her expression softened and she dropped her weapon. "Guess some things just don't change."

"Oh come now, I've changed!" Kazuo interjected. "I'm not the same person I was back then." He nodded and moved closer to Kaori. "You know that."

"I see," Kaori retorted, an edge to her voice. So much had happened in the past week, so much of it weighed on her mind and on her actions, too. There was now just one thing that didn't seem resolved, just one thing she really had to know. "So you're not just some pervert of a friend of mine who's also trying to save the world?"

Kazuo stopped cold. Their eyes met and for what seemed forever, they stared each other down. The simple fact was before them now. The emotions, the teasing and even the groping and it all came down to this. The journey was far from over but there were some things that had to be answered before journey's end.

"I'm not like," he stopped and sighed. "It's not-That's unfair," Kazuo informed her. "Saying that is like saying that Kikyou-sama and Kagome-sama were the same. I am not Miroku."

Kaori shook her head, knowing her meaning was lost. "I know that!"

"Then why bring this up?" Kazuo demanded. "What are we gaining from this?"

"Do you go out of your way to act like him all the time around me?" Kaori asked, her tone rising as her frustration began to show. "Sure, I can feel a connection to it, because it's familiar! Like something from a dream."

"And is that bad that I'm trying to reconnect with you like that?"

"It is when you're just doing it in the hopes that you'll bring more of Sango out in me! In case you haven't noticed I'm not Sango! I'm a tomboy who hates dresses and can't stand being under the control of people, especially family members. ESPECIALLY my sister! I hate snow, and my favorite thing to do is to open a bag of chips and throw them at my friends in between eating them!" She ignored Kazuo's 'It is?' and continued. "I can't blame this on Kohaku," she sighed, correcting herself, "Yasuo. And as much as I'd like to blame it on Onee-chan, I can't do that either. I need to know." She took a step forward. Again and again until they were only inches apart.

Kazuo licked his lips and tried to stop his heart from beating so fast. Sango, certainly, wouldn't have st

ood this close before they were married. "Know what?"

OoOoO

Higurashi Kasumi, smiling and looking as kind as she always did, seem quite pleased with herself. She didn't hold any doubt in her stance, or seem the least bit shocked, instead she just kept her smile on, despite Taji's sputters.

"What? I'm sorry, you're, that is, you've mista-I mean-"

Kasumi laughed a little, her gentle hand over her mouth. It was cute to see him flustered, she'd seen him curious, but never flustered before. "I knew it was you, Inuyasha."

Taji jumped up and, despite himself, he backed up a little further into the shrine.

"Mother's always know these things." She just continued to smile. "I'm not going to hurt you. Come, why don't we go have some tea? It looks like you could use it."

She turned away and didn't look back, because she knew Inuyasha like she knew her children. Sure enough, Taji scampered after her, but still couldn't manage to shake blood into his pale cheeks, or even come closer to figuring it out. He had a million questions and all of them fell away as soon as he tried to speak. When they entered the familiar kitchen, passing by a familiar cat and familiar rooms, Taji felt something different.

A burning inside of his chest threatened to overwhelm him and he watched Kasumi move about the kitchen and make the tea. The water was already made, and Taji collapsed into a chair. It was when she set the tea in front of him that he was able to finally croak out something.

"Hzzha?"

It wasn't in any language known to man or youkai, but it was there, and Taji was impressed with it. He sipped his tea and tried again. "Why would...that is…" he trailed off and Kasumi sipped her tea while he tried to find the right words. "How the hell do you know?!"

Kasumi set down her tea and smiled. "I told you, mothers always know these things. It's my sixth sense." Her smile faded and she took in Taji's human appearance. "But you've changed, and you're still very handsome!"

Taji blushed, "That's not...uh...I'm not really Inuyasha, I'm just his reincarnation." He swallowed and repeated the words again, softer. "Just a reincarnation." He looked into his tea and sighed.

There was uncomfortable silence in the room. Kasumi sipped her tea and cleared her throat. "So, would it be horrible for me to ask how you've been lately?"

OoOoO

It was very late before Taji started on his way home. Despite how uncomfortable he felt, he couldn't leave the shrine. Luckily, Kasumi being who she is, he didn't have to make an excuse to stay or to leave. At first, he hadn't wanted to give her the information, but realized that he didn't want to go against her requests.

He filled in as many blanks as he could for her, confirming many of her suspicions. It allowed her to prepare for the day _she_ would come home for good.

He felt bad when he left, because he knew she would be up for another hour, at least, doing her best to wash away his scent, lest Inuyasha sniff him out.

Taji took his time getting home, if only because he wasn't tired enough to go to bed. He tried not to think of the past weeks, but the events were swimming around in his head and he felt himself being suffocated. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn't notice he was back at the compound until he took his first steps onto the lawn and stopped short.

Kaori and Kazuo were wrapped in each other's arms, kissing as though there was no world around them that they had to care about. Taji wasn't sure how long he stood there, but he could only stare. Normally he would have walked away, or even called out something sarcastic to them. But for some reason watching them...it bothered him.

He instantly knew why, but it didn't help and he tried to force himself back and not be jealous. Jealous that his best friends had what he couldn't. Jealous that he had been so close, but so far. Jealous that they didn't have to deal with the kind of reincarnation issues he was going to have to deal with.

Again.

They broke off the kiss and it was then that Kaori's eyes became as round as saucers. She dropped Kazuo's hands and tried to find something, anything, to say. Kazuo turned also, swore under his breath, and the three stared at each other. He stepped away from Kaori a bit, not sure what to make of the look on his face.

Several seconds passed with the three of them standing there before Taji turned and entered his home. The door closed without him saying a word, but it was even longer before the others allowed themselves to breathe easy. Taji's strange behavior aside, they had a lot to talk about.

OoOoO

Taji had to resist the urge to slam the door when he got upstairs. He bypassed Sumi's room, despite the fact that she was calling out to him. He closed his door and locked it behind him, angry at his friends, himself, Sesshoumaru, and even HER. It was illogical, but at the same time he wished he could run up those stairs at the shrine, grab Kagome by the hand and tell her everything.

Feelings and thoughts rushed through him, things he had been repressing for months now, a person he had been trying for forget was coming forward. Taji grabbed his head and felt his legs get weaker as the pounding got stronger.

"No," he hissed. His legs gave way and he fell to the ground. He threw his arms out and tried to grab onto something, but only succeeded in knocking over a lamp.

The whispering started. It wasn't outside, he couldn't hear it, but he could feel it and he knew that after tonight, it was too much. There were too many reunions, too many of them happy and all he had to look forward to was...

"Not now, not now...Fuck you, NOT NOW! They're not-"

_Yeah, asshole. NOW_.

OoOoO

In her room, Sumi heard her brother scream and huddled closer into her blankets. She shuddered and hiccuped, afraid of what was going to happen. Everything had been happening so quickly lately, and she knew that it was his turn. Now she could hear her mother running down the hallway and she clutched her blanket tighter, wanting to warn her of what she might find in there: a person who didn't know her, and didn't care.

She knew these things. She'd known for months, but she didn't know how. Sesshoumaru had told her that maybe it was because she was so young that she had been willing to accept the dreams so they had come to her easily, but she didn't care. She knew how she had lived as Rin, she enjoyed remembering it, even the pain and the suffering of her deaths, all three of them. Sesshoumaru and Shippou had told her that it was different when you were younger, it was easier to accept your past then. They had seen it in others.

The older ones were fighting it, and it was making it harder for them to accept it so they could just move past. Sumi could vaguely remember Kagome saying something about that a long time ago, before she had left for good.

OoOoO

The room was unfamiliar to him, but similar to Kagome's and he looked around for her. She wasn't anywhere he could see and his senses were deadened by what could only be a night of the new moon. He glanced around and saw that it was still night outside, but he could clearly see the full moon in the window. His eyes went wide and he backed up into the bed, which startled him, but then relieved him when he saw Tetsusaiga laying there. He snatched it up and felt the normal demonic pulse in his hands, but it was somewhat subdued, like on his human nights.

Human night. His hearing was actually slightly better than a normal human night and so was his eyesight. He wasn't sure why. He looked around and found no mirror in the room, though the room itself felt a little familiar, and he yanked the door open and found himself in a similarly unfamiliar hallway.

_Did something happen at the shrine? Did something happen to Kagome?_

Kagome. Where was Kagome?

He made for the stairs and took the silently two at a time, not hearing the sound of a door creaking open behind him and a little girl holding in her sobs. She followed him, and when he made towards the kitchen, Sumi snuck out the back door and ran as fast as she could to Kaori's house.

Sumi banged on the door, hoping she, or maybe even Sora, was home. She had to get help. She wasn't sure how Inuyasha was going to react to being human, and being forced back into another person's consciousness. "Kaori-onee-chan! Please! Open the door! Someone! Anyone! Onee-chan!"

Out of breath and flushed, Kaori threw the door open and saw little Sumiko shaking, tears in her eyes and Kaori dropped to her knees and hugged her. "Sumi-chan, what's wrong? Shhh," she soothed her as Kazuo, straightening his clothing, joined the two of them. "You can tell me."

"Sumiko-chan," Kazuo tried. "Did something happen?"

Her response was muffled by her face in Kaori's clothing.

"Speak louder, Sumi, we can't hear you," Kaori pulled her away a little and dried her tears.

"Inuyasha's at my house! He woke up!" she hiccuped through his tears. "I knew he would wake up, I knew it," she cried. "I don't know what to do."

Kaori and Kazuo's eyes met and they nodded. "Sumiko, go inside," Kaori instructed. "Call Sesshoumaru right now. You'll be interrupt his date with Onee-chan, do it anyway."

"Where are you and Kazuo-onii-chan going?"

"To save Taji."

OoOoO

Inuyasha had reached the kitchen, recognizing the appliances, though their uses were foreign to him. In there was a woman and he stopped short, unsure of who this stranger was. He sensed no youki or evil energy from her, and judging by the look on her face she was confused and worried.

"Taji!" she gasped. "I thought I heard something upstairs. Is everything alright?"

He looked her up and down, a twinge of a memory stirring with in him but he kept his hand on Tetsusaiga. "Who you talking to?"

Naoko was reaching for Inuyasha and suddenly stopped. The tone, the language, the form of address. "Inu...yasha?" she managed out as the memory of Kohaku awakening seeped into her mind. Her stomach knotted when he narrowed his eyes at her and nodded once. She closed her eyes and put a hand to her chest. "Okay, Naoko," she said to herself. "You knew this could happen, you can do this."

"Inuyasha," she began, trying to speak as calmly and softly as possible, "I need you to keep calm as I tell you some things."

Gripping Tetsusaiga closely Taji looked around the room. "Where the fuck am I? I'm not at Kagome's."

"No, you're not at Kagome's," Naoko confirmed. "You're in your own home."

"What?"

"Inuyasha," a familiar voice came from behind him. "Naoko-san has done you no wrong, just let her leave and go next door, you can talk to us."

Inuyasha turned around and saw two people he easily recognized in strange garments, looking just a little different somehow, but he knew they were Sango and Miroku. Miroku was the one who had spoken and he looked between them and Naoko before relaxing.

"Go," Kaori instructed Naoko, "Sumi-chan's already there."

Not needing to be told again, Naoko pushed her way past her son and his friends, fear cold in her veins, at the thought of Inuyasha taking over her son's very existence. _Please…_

An uncomfortable silence fell over the three before Inuyasha finally asked, "What the fuck is going on here? I'm at a house that isn't Kagome's, you're in Kagome's world with me wearing those weird fucking clothes, I'm human on a moon night...does any of this make no sense to either of you?"

Kaori put her hands up in surrender and she tried to placate him, while knowing that wasn't going to happen. "Let's go into the living room and sit down so we can sort this out. It's...complicated. Very complicated."

"I think it's rather straight forward, Ka-_Sango_," Kazuo hurriedly corrected himself.

Kaori looked at him sternly and followed his lead. "We should still go sit down, Houshi-sama."

Inuyasha looked between the two and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I just want to know what the hell is going on."

They filed into the room, Inuyasha standing in front of the TV, Kaori and Kazuo sitting on the couch. Kaori, feeling that Taji was her friend for far longer than Kazuo, looked to Kazuo and nodded once, indicating that she would start and hopefully clear the air.

"Inuyasha," she began. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Inuyasha crossed his arms, cursing when there were no sleeves to cross into, and closed his eyes.

"_Inuyasha you idiot!" Shippou screamed at him as Inuyasha made no further move to get up. The battle had taken it all out of him, ever drop of energy, every attack and move he had ever had to defeat this demon. He was spent, there was no way for him to get up, no reason for him to do so anymore. _

_Strange...there was no pain._

_Shippou had long ago grown up. Miroku, Sango, even Kohaku were long dead. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren surrounded him now, trying to give aide. The village miko, who was Miroku and Sango's great granddaughter Emiko was doing all she could. _

"_Miko-sama," one of her cousins quivered, Inuyasha-ojii-sama was well loved by the entire family. "Are you going to be able to save him?"_

"_Normally I would say his healing would take over the healing," the priestess said, "but there's so much venom in the blood that it's constantly eating anything that heals. Sanosuke!" she called for her younger brother. "I need you to go to Jinenji's and-"_

"_Don't bother," Inuyasha groaned from the ground and his thoughts became clear and centered on what they usually entered on._

_Kagome. Maybe, just maybe, he would be lucky enough to meet her in his next life._

"_Inuyasha-ojii-sama, you must let us try."_

_Coughing, Inuyasha put a hand to his stomach, looking as the blood rolled down his hand. "Feh, always knew I would die in battle. Emi, don't worry, you couldn't have done anything."_

_Inuyasha smiled as the darkness came upon his eyes. He looked at Shippou and pulled Tetsusaiga out and shakily held it out to him. "It's yours. Even if you can't use it, no one else is worthy of it."_

_Shippou looked stunned. No one, not a soul, was worthy of Tetsusaiga in Inuyasha's eyes. Never had been, no one ever would be. Tears were in the kitsune's eyes as he reached out and gently took the sword, ignoring the sting of the barrier, faint though it was for this type of exchange._

"_I promise I'll take care of it! I'll never let it fall into the wrong hands!"_

"_Baka," Inuyasha muttered as he drew a labored breath, "Just don't let…Sesshoumaru… get it."_

"_I promise! Inuyasha, don't die!" Shippou begged._

_Inuyasha looked towards the forest and let out a last breath. "Kagome...I'm coming…"_

Inuyasha opened his eyes, feeling the intense pain of his death fade once more. "I died. Fighting a taiyoukai who thought the Shikon no Tama was still at the village."

Kaori and Kazuo had heard the story from Shippou. It had been a lucky shot on the taiyoukai's part, tearing Inuyasha's stomach and chest, but that had left him open to deliver the final blow, killing the taiyoukai with the kaze no kizu. A life for a life.

"Yes. Inuyasha, that was almost 400 years ago," Kazuo explained to him slowly, letting the words run over Inuyasha gently, like water. "You've been reborn into Kagome's era. The year is 1996 and your name now is Yukimura Taji."

Inuyasha's head snapped up and he unfolded his arms. "What was that?"

"Your final wish, when you said you were coming for Kagome-chan, it's come true. You made it to her era," Kaori said with a small smile. "Right now you can't see her, none of us can. She's doing her quest for the Shikon no Tama and we can't interfere with that."

"Feh. Then what's the fucking point of me getting myself reincarnated to meet her again if I can't meet her again?!"

"I'm sure that it will greatly shorten her grieving process when she finds out that the man she fell in love with has been reincarnated and," Kazuo continued, drawing on wisdom he knew was not his own, "while not exactly the same, is willing to have some sort of relationship with her."

He opened his mouth to object, then closed it, opened it again and then finally had to say. "Yeah, I guess when she gets stuck here she'll be pretty upset about it. If we're here, even reincarnated, it'll make her feel better." He paused and smirked. "So...you're here, too. I begged to be reborn with her, did you do the same?"

Kaori blushed and put a hand to her hair. "Well, not exactly…"

"That is to say," Kazuo began with a slight stutter, "my wish was to have the same friends in my next life."

"Mine was to have less tragedy," Kaori continued. "And to meet with my husband and friends if I could."

"We had a lot of good karma," Kazuo said while holding his chin. "That could have worked in our favor."

Inuyasha had slid to the ground at some point while they were talking and was lost in thought. He didn't remember being this Taji person that they told him about, he didn't remember being born, but waking up. A thought suddenly struck him. That woman who had left the house, she had been familiar with him…

"That woman," he began, interrupting whatever the others were talking about, "who was she?"

Kaori exchanged a glance with Kazuo before she continued. "She's your mother."

An unfamiliar, but not unpleasant, feeling settled in Inuyasha's stomach. A warmth that he was familiar with, but nearly forgotten. "Mother?" The word seemed to blow him back. "I have a mother?"

Kaori couldn't help but feel for Inuyasha, the joy, the shock, of having a parent. Inuyasha had been close to his mother when she had been alive, everyone knew that even though he rarely spoke of her. It was just in how he spoke of her, the story Kagome had told them about Inuyasha and his fake mother, and, of course, his human heart.

"You have a sister, too," Kazuo supplied. "Remember Rin? The little girl who followed Sesshoumaru around? She was reborn as your sister. Her name is Sumiko and she's hardly changed." It wasn't a lie, he just didn't want to mention that this included her infatuation with Sesshoumaru.

Inuyasha held Tetsusaiga close to him. "And a father…?"

"He died," Kaori explained softly, remembering the incident very well. "In an accident just a couple of years ago. You, Taji, were really close to him. I was really close to him," she continued, "losing him was hard."

Inuyasha chuckled and put his hands on his knees. "Who else was reincarnated? If even Rin was reborn there's gotta be more."

"Kohaku is here, Kirara made it here on her own, same with Kouga and Ayame," Kaori ticked the names off her fingers.

The door slammed open and both Kaori and Kazuo stood up suddenly, mild panic rushing their symptoms. "No, he's not going to come-"

"This Sesshoumaru shall do as he pleases."

Behind him stood Sora, instead of her normal superior smirk, a look of curiosity and even worry on her face. She had watched Taji grow up, being Kagura or not, she cared about Taji. He was a friend, a punching bag, someone she trusted.

Inuyasha jumped to his feet as his friends had done before and growled. "Sesshoumaru. And Kagura…? Managed to make it to the modern era I see."

"All thanks to your wench," Sesshoumaru replied. "What are you doing here, in this time, Inuyasha? Your death took place 400 years ago and we were led to believe you wanted to be reincarnated in this time. Why awaken yourself now?"

"How in the seven hells am I supposed to know?" Inuyasha grumbled. "One minute I'm dying, the next I'm reeling in some place ain't never seen before. And they say I still can't see Kagome anyway so there's no reason for me to be here because that's the only reason I let myself die!"

Everyone fell silent, Inuyasha's words ringing through the room like a curse.

"Oh," Sora gasped, an idea forming in her head. "I think I may have an idea as to why Inuyasha has awakened inside of Taji."

Sesshoumaru shifted his glance from his would-be brother to the former wind sorceress. "Explain."

"As we discussed at dinner, Sesshoumaru," Sora began with a spark in her eye, "Taji has only seen Kagome one time. Perhaps it is because he has only seen her that one time in all the time that he has been awakened," she offered. "He knows she is around, but Kaori-chan and Kazuo-chan do everything possible to make sure they never meet. Perhaps it is not satisfactory for Inuyasha's soul."

Kaori tilted her head to the side and let out a "Huh" before turning to Kazuo who looked equally as perplexed.

"Basically," Sora continued, "your soul awoke inside Taji because you are being denied the thing you want the most."

Inuyasha was blushing, his heart beating faster at the insinuation that he needed Kagome, that being without her had driven him to this state where he took over his reincarnation. Like some child who didn't get what he wanted. "That's...that's…" he stumbled.

"A pretty good guess," Kaori said with a sigh.

"Wha...Sango!" Inuyasha protested.

Kaori shrugged her shoulders. "Onee-chan makes sense." Inuyasha sputtered through the word 'Onee-chan', completely disbelieving their relationship. "What was the first thing you thought of when you became conscious?" Inuyasha turned his head and she smiled at him. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's not like any of us were blind or stupid."

"Sh-shuddup!" Inuyasha snapped. He avoided their eyes and then sighed. "I'm not supposed to be here."

"No, you are not," Sesshoumaru told him. "And while your reincarnation is just as insufferable as you, he belongs in this life, you had your chance and made your choice."

"So, what do we do, big brother?"

To be continued…

So some of you were pretty right! ^_^ Good guessing! Though I don't know what this says about me and my foreshadowing. Making it too easy on you guys. Thank you, as always, to those who review, favorite, or follow! You are greatly appreciated!


	11. Shit, You Think I Know?

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and favorited the story. 3 It means so much to me!

IMPORTANT NOTE: I revised the scene of Inuyasha's death in chapter 10. It's not a huge difference, but now things said later on will make more sense.

Figure it's time to update this!

Yukimura Taji - Inuyasha

Yukimura Sumiko - Rin

Miyamoto Kaori - Sango

Miyamoto Sora - Kagura

Kiyoraka Kazuo - Miroku

Kiyoraka Yasuo - Kohaku

Parents (They don't have connections to the past, these are just them):

Higurashi Kasumi

Yukimura Naoko

Miyamoto Ami

Miyamoto Kenji

Kiyoraka Yukiko

Kiyoraka Daichi

**The Path of Destiny**

**Chapter 11**

**Shit, You Think I Know?**

Kazuo stretched in the morning light, shaking off the last remnants of sleep in his mind he waited for Kaori to come out of her house so they could walk to school together. The past few days had been difficult, very difficult, and neither he nor Kaori had gone to school. They had spent the days and nights helping Inuyasha adapt to the era as best as they could while simultaneously trying to find a way to revert his consciousness back to Taji. So far there had been no success. Continuing to be out of school would only raise suspicion, and Taji obviously wouldn't be returning until they found a way to restore him.

He pondered the nature of these past few days and what they meant to him. Along with having to deal with a very stubborn reborn hanyou there was the unsettled matter of his and Kaori's blossoming feelings for each other. Taji had witnessed them kissing outside, which now made things a little awkward between Kasuo and Kaori even if Inuyasha had no recollection of what Taji saw earlier that day.

Kaori was right, he acted more like Miroku around her, it was something that he felt was naturally drawn out by her. But her reactions were uncanny, they were replaying their former lives over again. And while he was comfortable with their relationship being at least started and lightly based on their past, she wasn't.

Sighing, Kazuo checked his watch and began to wonder if he should go in and get Kaori before the door opened and Kaori came tumbling out, a piece of toast in her mouth and hopping as she shoved a shoe on one foot. She jogged over to him and through a mouthful of bread greeted him, as though nothing had happened. But as they began to walk the tension between them mounted through their conversation.

"So, Inuyasha still in town?" Kazuo asked.

"Yeah," Kaori replied tersely. "They've tried everything. Medicine, magic, meditation, beating it out of him, nothing seems to be working. He's being so...stubborn. Just like himself. Both of himselves."

"Huh. It's the same with Kohaku, nothing's worked and the best minds in both youkai lore and human medicine think we should just let what will happen happen naturally."

"Hmmm…" was all that Kaori replied.

"Maybe it'll clear up on the new moon?" Kazuo suggested.

"Hmmm…"

"I hear that it's a health benefit to stick peanut butter and banana sandwiches in your pants all day."

"Hmmm…"

Kazuo sighed. Kohaku was awaked, Inuyasha was causing trouble, and they had their own issues to sort through. He was surprised Kaori even managed to notice that he talked at all.

OoOoO

Inuyasha, once Taji, took Tetsusaiga and faced off against Kirara. Even as a human he still managed to look as cocky as ever despite not being able to use the sword. But he wanted to try, and everyone else he could try against had their day jobs to do, from own half the known and unknown world to keeping relations between humans and youkai running smoothly.

Kirara charged at Inuyasha and he avoided her easily, once more gracious that his reincarnation kept in shape. The body was familiar enough that he didn't feel alienated in it, and it had apparently made rounds the entire property what had happened and they left him well enough alone.

He had heard that his sister, Sumiko, suffered from constant illness and it had only been recently that through a youkai doctor she was up and around and back at school all the time. He supposed that he would owe him gratitude, but he knew Sesshoumaru well enough to know not to give it. Sumi herself was untouched by her brother's transformation to Inuyasha, now that it had passed. He didn't know what to say to her about his reentering the world as he did, and she seemed perfectly content to ignore it and call him "Onii-chan".

Other than using Kirara to try and test his strength and possibly dip into his hanyou powers the same way Kagome was a miko he spent a lot of time with Kohaku. Kohaku, who he had found out was named Yasuo and was Kazuo's younger brother in this era, was having as much of a difficult time as he was trying to unify himself with his other, modern, self. Just like with him, they had tried everything imaginable, but there was something tying him to this mortal coil.

Inuyasha took one last swing and then sheathed his sword. "Feh, let's go find Kohaku, Kirara. I can't concentrate on a damn thing."

Kirara shrunk to her smaller size and ran to catch up with Inuyasha as he made his way towards the Kiyoraka home where Kohaku had finally managed to make peace with staying, though it was questionable if his parents had done the same. Inuyasha was lucky, Taji's mother, while upset, was genuinely a good host to him while they were in the predicament. A good mother. She insisted he call her "Naoko-mama", but he stuck with just plain "Naoko" or "You".

He came upon Kohaku kicking a ball across the yard and he watched him for a bit, noticing this wasn't anything like he'd seen Kohaku do in the past. He mostly stuck to weapons, especially his chain and sickle. He seemed proficient in the game he was playing and noticed Inuyasha had come forward. With a smile he kicked the ball towards him and Inuyasha caught it expertly.

"No, that's not what you do!" Kohaku exclaimed, coming closer. "You can only use your feet and head to hit the ball. It's better when there's more than one person around."

Inuyasha looked down at the black and white ball, clearly vexed by it and Kohaku's enthusiasm. "What's the point?" he asked, tossing it back and watching Kohaku dribble it.

Kohaku's eyes lit up and he explained some of the ins and outs of football, which brought a thought to Inuyasha.

"You don't sound like yourself, kid," he observed. "You sound a lot happier, that's for sure."

Kohaku stopped dribbling and picked the ball up, a sad smile on his face. "It's weird, I woke up this morning with all this knowledge on football, I'd never heard of it before. But I had a strong desire to play, I had to play, and so I did. Like I'd been playing all my life."

"Yasuo is coming back...isn't he?"

"I don't know! It's all so confusing!" he cried out. "One day I'm fighting Naraku and the next...you know the next."

Inuyasha looked at the ball and the way he clutched it closely. "There's been more though."

Kohaku nodded once. "I can feel it coming. I'm losing myself and he's fighting his way back. Not just the football, but memories from when he was younger are flashing through my mind all the time. I don't feel like I can be close to ane-ue or onii-chan, neither of them is my sibling anymore because I'm not Kohaku or Yasuo anymore! I don't know what to do! Inuyasha, I don't want to die again! Please tell me I don't have to die for Yasuo to live!"

The words hung in the air like the scent of blood that often followed both of them in their previous lives. Inuyasha found himself speechless at first. The boy had put into words his own greatest fear and he felt chilled by it as he watched tears trail down Kohaku's face. But he couldn't lie to the kid about it, either.

"I can't promise you that, Kohaku. You, me, fuck, neither of us belong here. We're supposed to be dead and dust for centuries. I _let_ myself die with some hope of being here, as Taji, and even that I managed to fuck up." He realized he wasn't helping and ran a hand through his tangled mess of hair. "Look, you woke up because everyone else was waking up, right? But the things that happened to you were so intense and so horrible that the naive and pure person you were in this life couldn't process it. Your memories aren't dribbling in like everyone else's so the best you're gonna be able to do is come to a understanding about who's in charge."

"How do I do that?"

"Shit, you think I know? If I did don't you think I'd have already done it?"

OoOoO

Hidden off to the side of the small row of houses was Sora, fanning herself lazily. _Hmmmm...They're taking this more seriously than Sesshoumaru gives them credit for. And certainly more than Kouga._

"Well," she snapped her fan closed and took the back route to the main house so she wouldn't be seen by the two boys. "The least I can do is tell Sesshoumaru that they're considering this a problem." She smiled, her red lips pressing together firmly. "Maybe I'll be able to take him from his work a little early today…"

She strolled across the path, not paying any particular attention to what was going on around her, her thoughts wrapped up in the dance so many of them were performing as reincarnations. Her own little sister had been her forced enemy. Her sister's best friend was her worst enemy. His sister was the ward of a taiyoukai she had found herself inexplicably attracted to and frustrated with. They were friends with another enemy and a boy who the creature that gave birth to her had used for months to play with the heart of her sister.

It was a tangled web.

Everyone had different degrees of remembering, she remembered everything (as far as she could tell) up until the day she knelt in the field of flowers after saving Kohaku's life and said her goodbye to Sesshoumaru. She knew that Kaori remembered the least, preferring to rely on her connections to this time and this place to work in life. But, as she stepped into the main house and waved at Ayame, she knew that Kaori would have to give in eventually.

Sora entered the meeting room Sesshoumaru was in without knocking, interrupting a meeting between him and several other associates. He raised an eyebrow at her, but she merely pulled up an empty chair and sat around the table with the others. "I can wait," she said offhandedly.

Sesshoumaru nodded and continued with the meeting as though there had been no interruption. Several of the other youkai in the room were offended that this woman, this _human_, was allowed to sit down with them, as an equal. But they continued as Sesshoumaru did for he was the most powerful one there.

When the meeting was over, and after receiving a scathing look from a particularly attractive lemur youkai, Sora snapped her fan closed and smirked at Sesshoumaru. "Hope I didn't interrupt anything too important. Corporate take over? Espionage?"

"Board meeting," Sesshoumaru replied while getting his papers together. "Two of the members of the board will be missing at the next one. Unfortunate. You have news?"

"Nothing much," she replied. "There is something in having so much time in spying in your past life. No one tends to notice you when you don't want them to."

"Ho...So, how is my pathetic half-brother and Kohaku?"

She smirked. "Smarter than you give either of them credit for. Yasuo is breaking through Kohaku's consciousness and Inuyasha has the solution to what they need to do, he just doesn't know how."

"Indeed."

"Indeed," Sora mocked him, standing up and walking to where he was standing and collecting his papers. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you cared about Inuyasha, or Taji's, fate." She smiled at him and put her arms around his neck, noticing when his eye ticked just a little bit. "The great Sesshoumaru-sama, worried about puny humans and his brother's reincarnation."

"You overreach, woman," he growled.

Still smirking, Sora kissed him softly and then pulled back. If a person didn't know Sesshoumaru, as Sora did, they wouldn't know that he had suddenly relaxed. "And to think, I once accused you of not being a man. Inuyasha's idea is that they need to tap into their other halves' consciousness and come to some sort of agreement about which person in their head is in charge."

They began to walk down to his office, still talking about the rather large thorn in their side. "An easy suggestion," Sesshoumaru agreed, "but how to bring forth the weaker personality and have it take back over?"

"Don't ask me. That's what Inuyasha didn't know."

"Perhaps it is time to call a group meeting and see if anyone has ideas," Sesshoumaru mused.

Sora looked surprised. "Oh. Kouga and Inuyasha in the same room together? That's something I don't get the pleasure of seeing everyday."

"Ayako," Sesshoumaru stopped in front of his secretary's desk. She looked up from her paperwork, her large blue eyes fixated on him. "Call everyone on the Association list, tell them there will be a meeting at eight tonight and I will not tolerate tardiness."

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama," Ayako said while bowing her head.

OoOoO

Lunch time came around as it does everyday and Kaori and Kazuo met on the roof of their school with Kaori having a lunch for Kazuo as she tended to do these days. Unlike she had before, today she blushed when his hand brushed hers when he took the lunch from her. Somehow today, after sharing their feelings a few days ago, it was more embarrassing than when Taji was around.

They ate in silence at first, the unease for that morning still hanging over their head like a dark cloud. Kazuo finished eating first and looked over to Kaori to study her as she finished her lunch.

Her cheeks were red as she pretended not to notice Kazuo's attention. She was different today, and not just in her silence. Her hair was being held back by a shimmering purple scarf that matched the make up she had on for the day. That took Kazuo aback; Kaori didn't wear make up. He thought that, perhaps, it was Sora's influence on her, she had bought enough for her the other day. It never crossed his mind it might be for his benefit.

"Kazuo," Kaori began, her lunch set aside, her face now pale under her make up. "You are Kazuo, aren't you?"

Looking affronted, Kazuo jumped up and didn't hide the shock on his face. "Who else would I be?" They paused. "Miroku? You think my consciousness has been taken over?"

She shrunk back down, laying her head on her folded knees. "It was a thought. It's a popular thing to do these days."

"And neither of them are happy! Kohaku remembers his life as a puppet murderer for Naraku and Inuyasha is far more miserable without Kagome than Taji was. I may remember much of my life as Miroku, both the good times and the bad, but I am not him."

"Then why do you act like him so much when we're around. I know there's no helping the perverseness within you, that shone through before you got your memories back," Sango muttered darkly. "But you aren't a monk, you don't have to act like one."

Miroku averted his gaze. "Sometimes I feel as though I must, and I have minor spiritual powers again."

"That doesn't mean you must be a monk. Just like I don't have to be a taijiya. I'm doing what I'm doing right now because if we don't the Shikon no Tama and Kagome-chan could be in grave danger. When this is over I have other dreams I want to chase."

"Really?" Kazuo asked, sitting again, genuine interest on his face. "Like what?"

"I want to be a teacher, a wife, and a mother." Kaori mumbled, once again blushing. She looked over to Kazuo. "You must have something you always wanted to do?"

"Well yes, I always wanted to be a chef to be honest with you," he told her, his voice a little far away. "I'm not half bad if I do say so myself."

Kaori narrowed her eyes at him. "So why is it I'm always the one making lunch!"

"I thought it was just because you liked me," Kazuo said innocently. "Well, I have a feeling I won't be doing that anymore. I think I'm being pulled into the youkai underworld."

"You don't have to be," Kaori responded frantically. "It's only short lived, a few more months. We can cut ties - "

"How do you expect to cut ties?" Kazuo snapped. "My brother, our brother, could forever be stuck in his bloody past, Sumi-chan will never leave 'Sesshoumaru-sama', Sora-san and Sesshoumaru have something that I don't want to think about going on, and then there's Taji. Inuyasha. Once Kagome-sama, Kagome," he corrected himself, "stays in this time she's going to find that some of her friends made it to this time. And are we really going to abandon all of this?"

Kaori felt tears fill her eyes but she looked down and didn't bother swipping them away. She couldn't just leave Shippou and Kirara. If Kohaku never reverted back to Yasuo, what would she do? Just abandon him to a life he couldn't possibly understand? The same with Taji...her best friend. There were too many people involved now.

The bell rang and Kazuo got to his feet. "Ya know," he said, "it's a good day for ditching class."

Kaori laughed. "We just got back."

"That's what makes it such a good day! We don't want to overwhelm our brains on our first day back." He held his hand out to the girl who had blinked back her tears, though there were still traces of them on her cheeks. "Well, let's go! To the mall for icecream!"

Smiling, a true smile, Kaori took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled up and then lead down stairs to the gate, not caring that they were leaving their books behind. Or that someone saw them sneaking off. Right now all either of them cared about was the warmth in the hand they were holding.

OoOoO

Inuyasha, shoes off and wearing the baggiest clothes that he could find in his room, (Sesshoumaru had refused to give him the Fire Rat armour) followed Naoko and Sumi down the too-white hallways of Sesshoumaru's home. Sumi was practically skipping as they made their way towards the largest meeting room in the house that doubled as an office building, she hadn't seen Sesshoumaru in an entire day and was eager, as always, to see him. She held both Inuyasha and Naoko's hands as they moved along, allowing Sumi to lead them to where they were going.

Naoko tried to remain as calm and collected as possible about this meeting, one hadn't been called since all of this began. Out of the corner of her eye she caught her son's, no Inuyasha's profile, and noticed the changes in him. How he stood up straighter and was constantly checking around them for potential threats. The slight change in his voice and vocabulary was...tolerable. She smiled, she'd been warned about that, actually.

But, as a mother, she had to wonder how much of this had come about by visiting the Higurashi Shrine that day. Sesshounaru's spies had seen him there and reported the visit. It had been long enough, but mostly filled with questions about what they had dealt with until now and how it had affected Kagome. Taji had finally just told Higurashi Kasumi not to underestimate her daughter: she was stronger than anyone else on the team, which brought her pride.

They reached the double doors and allowed Sumi to throw them open with a cry of "Sesshoumaru-sama!"

"Rin, be quiet and take your seat," Sesshoumaru said without looking up from his paperwork.

"Okay!" Rin chirped taking her seat on Sesshoumaru's left hand side, Sora would be occupying the right.

Inuyasha sat next to Sumi and Naoko took a seat beside him. They were the first ones to arrive, even beating the youkai and their friends to the meeting. Kohaku was waiting for his parents to get home to come with them, and Sora was waiting for Kazuo and Kaori up at their school so they would be their quickly. All of their parents had arranged to be off early for this meeting. Ayame, Kouga, and Shippou were on their way.

It wasn't long before everyone one arrived. Fights broke out (Kouga and Inuyasha started the first one, of course) more happy greetings were exchanged, but eventually Sesshoumaru lost his temper in a way that only Sesshoumaru can.

Sumi stood up on her chair and called out over the din of the room. "Everyone, Sesshoumaru-sama wants to start the meeting!"

Her small, but firm, voice was enough to cause both Inuyasha and Kouga to stop in the middle of their first fist fight. Instead they glared at each other and sat back in their own respective seats, frowns on their faces and promises of finishing this later under their breath. Shippou, meanwhile, simply sat back and wiped his brow. He was almost ready to step in and that wouldn't have been a pretty sight for him.

"Thank you, Rin," Sesshoumaru said, no change in his voice to suggest that he was at all grateful. "We have two members of our reincarnation group who have taken over the bodies of their hosts."

"You make it sound like we WANTED to do it, asshole," Inuyasha snapped.

Sesshoumaru continued on, still far too used to dealing with his younger half-brother. "Those who have examined these two have all come to the same conclusion: the longer they linger, the more likely you are to stay in this world, in those bodies. Bodies that do not belong to you anymore than Kagome's soul belonged in Kikyou's false body."

At the mention of the name Kikyou, Inuyasha flinched. Kikyou had passed as peacefully as anyone could have hoped given her circumstances. Though deep down he knew that he had hurt Kagome by kissing her and then he never got the chance to…to...He sighed and tried not to think about it. He'd been reborn, he had a long time to try this again.

Suddenly the door opened again and a woman with short curly brown hair and a yellow jacket on entered the room. "I'm so sorry, everyone, that I was late! My father-in-law didn't give me the message until an hour ago because he thought consorting with youkai was, well, anyway," she trailed off. "It won't be repeated!"

"Ah, so you're Higurashi Kasumi!" Sora acknowledged with praise in her voice. "You put up with so much from Inuyasha, I hear."

"I can confirm it and I wasn't even there for it," Kaori mused.

Kazuo sighed. "It was just as bad for us."

"Would you lot just shut up?!" Inuyasha barked. He then collected himself. "Kasumi-san, I didn't know you were invited." He glared at Sesshoumaru and bowed his head at her. "They said we've met before."

"We have, Taji-kun. Oh," her hand flew to her mouth. "I'm sorry, would you prefer I call you Inuyasha-kun until this is all straightened out?"

"Either one is fine," he muttered.

She took her seat at the back of the table and smiled. "Shippou-kun told me that calling you by your real name would probably help bring forth Taji-kun, so I'll call you that if you don't mind, and I also brought some of the tea we drank the other night when we were together. There is nothing more powerful than smell and taste. Maybe after this you can have some."

"Okay, so we've got one idea to get inukoro's mind going, tea," Kouga said with mild disgust, which caused almost everyone in the room to glare at him for at all suggesting that the tea would not be a good stimulant.

"It's a good start," Yasuo's father input. "There's a lot of research about taste and touch being the most powerful memories we have."

"Well what about me?" Kohaku asked. "What does Yasuo have that was so important that it might trigger his life again?"

Ayame pulled a tuft of a fur that had been in her family for generations and hed it up. "Sometimes we're the only ones who know."

Naoko turned to Sumi. "Sumi, have you noticed anything different with Kohaku?"

Sumi shook her head but Inuyasha jumped in. "You were playing that game earlier! Football or something! You tried to get me to play and I thought it was boring."

Yukiko's head snapped up and she said, "That's Yasuo's favorite game. Did you know how to play it? Were you good at it?"

Kohaku looked taken aback and smiled at his two 'parents' before exchanging glances with his brother. "I knew every rule in the game and all I wanted to do was play it."

Kaori's eyes lit up. "Yasuo is coming forth."

"Thank the heavens," Kazuo breathed softly.

"So basically we just have to wait and this will blow over?" Naoko asked with some enthusism in her voice. "Taji will be back?"

Shippou folded his arms. "We won't know for sure until Kohaku and Yasuo truly make the switch or come to a compromise. And Inuyasha is a lot stronger of a personality than Kohaku, no offense, I did live with him for a century."

Some fighting began to break out, especially amongh the Kiyoraka's, who weren't happy with where they were in life, and the Miyamoto's who had taken right to their daughter's destinys, no matter how bizarre. Naoko stayed out of the arguements because of her families ties to Sesshoumaru, though she still didn't fully understand Sumi and Sesshoumaru's bond.

The youkai sat out, let the humans argue as though they had choices in the matter. This had all happened before, and it would all happen again, that was just the way that time travel worked. And right now they were spending too much time squabbling and struggling while other youkai got closer to the shrine.

Kasumi interrupted the arguments and took the floor for a moment. "I may not be as involved as you are in many things, but my daughter is charged with going down a well and finding the shikon no kakera. Sometimes I don't see her for weeks and at first I worried, even with Shippou's explanation that everything would work out. But he told me that in the end they wouldn't be together, that it was pretty obvious they wanted to be together and it just didn't happen.

"Kagome is home for a couple of days to get caught up for the mock test. Maybe you can arrange a way to bump into her, just spill a drink or something, and see her, talk to her briefly, be satisfied that she really is alive. I think that with that, you will be able to be at peace and Taji-kun can come back to us. It's the best I can do until the end of the journey."

"This is probably the best idea we can come up with," Shippou agreed. "As long as Inuyasha isn't making his visits at the same time."

Sesshoumaru took the floor again. "I believe it would be best to send Kohaku to a football club where he may be able to regain more memories. Someone must always be with him in cause this does happen. Are there any other means you've noticed that call upon Yasuo?"

"He really likes cats, and his favorite food is okonomiyaki," Kohaku told him. "Nothing else really."

"It is a start. As for you, my worthless half-brother, I would take Higurashi-san's suggestion and see if the tea she has would bring your memories back. And while I hold some, many, reservations, about you seeing Kagome if that is what it will do to put you back into your rest, than so it must be. I don't want you alone when you decide to do this. Kouga," he called.

Startled, Kouga sat up a little straighter. "Yeah?"

"I want you to shadow Inuyasha while he attempts to contact Kagome. Should the contact become at all beyond our orders you are to get him out of the situation, by force if need be. The same goes for Kazuo and Kaori should they be accompanying Inuyasha at the time."

Kouga, finally having the authority over his beloved inukoro did his best to look nonchalant. His wife could see the joy though and stomped on his foot with a glare.

Inuyasha snorted. "This is all a bunch of bullshit."

Naoko frowned at Inuyasha, because as much as she loved her son she never got used to his vocabulary. "Taji, watch your language!"

"I ain't gonna watch my fuckin' language. I'm sick of listening to you people, especially you two assholes," he pointed at Kouga and Sesshoumaru. "I have my reasons for waking up, even if I do only have this mortal body. I know my way around this city, don't even try and stop me."

Kaori jumped up and grabbed his shirt, but was shrugged off. "Please, Inuyasha, please, don't let Kagome see you."

He stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Well, if there was ever a doubt that he was Inuyasha…" Kazuo mumbled as he squeezed Kohaku's shoulder.

"Don't worry," Ayame said with a shrug. "We've had plans for this situation, believe it or not. Higurashi-san, we'll need your help."

Kasumi nodded, ready to help the boy who had given his heart away a long time ago.

To Be Continued…

Thank you for reading! Until next week!


	12. Dual Lives

IMPORTANT NOTE: I revised the scene of Inuyasha's death in chapter 10. It's not a huge difference, but now things said later on will make more sense.

Figure it's time to update this!

Yukimura Taji - Inuyasha

Yukimura Sumiko - Rin

Miyamoto Kaori - Sango

Miyamoto Sora - Kagura

Kiyoraka Kazuo - Miroku

Kiyoraka Yasuo - Kohaku

Parents (They don't have connections to the past, these are just them):

Higurashi Kasumi

Yukimura Naoko

Miyamoto Ami

Miyamoto Kenji

Kiyoraka Yukiko

Kiyoraka Daichi

**The Path of Destiny**

**Chapter 11**

**Dual Lives**

Inuyasha padded through the streets, taking back routes and alleys as often as it permitted. His senses were dulled, only somewhat brought back with him according to the doctors who examined him, an extraordinary event in and of itself. Luckily he didn't need them, he knew where the shrine was, he'd lived on the goshinboku for fifty years hadn't he?

The air was starting to cool by the time he made it to the shrine. He didn't have total darkness like he wanted to, but it would have to do. He just wanted to see Kagome, alone, without a fucking entourage following him to make sure he didn't 'screw up'. He knew what was on the line, but he also knew from his memories that he never found a trace of anyone, not even any of the youkai, while the shard hunt was going on.

He pulled his long hair back into a ponytail as he approached the shrine. Just because he was being irrational didn't mean he was stupid. He knew if Kagome saw him she might recognize him as though he was on his new moon night, and he wasn't out to change the future. Hell, he wasn't even sure what would happen if he did change the future. Would he cease to exist? The future could be holding on by a thread right now; the thread that seemed to tie the two of them together.

There was a light on in her window when he arrived. He knew every tree, every groove, every way to get up to that window without being seen. It would just be a little more difficult as a human. He jumped into the tree closest to her room and began his climb. Several times he thought he heard something coming and froze in place before continuing his climb. He reached her room in no time and looked into her room.

It was just as he remembered it. The desk, the bed, the little clock, all of it like a painting. And lying there with a towel on her hair was Kagome. She was asleep, laying on her side looking peaceful, much more peaceful than she looked when she slept in the feudal era. He supposed that made sense, as far as she knew there was no danger here.

He watched her as she slept, feelings inside of him that he had ignored long ago made him feel warm in his chest as he allowed himself to fully experience the emotions. He was so foolish. If he had told her maybe she would have stayed. Maybe he wouldn't be stuck in his reincarnations body, maybe they would have been together.

His heart ached just thinking about the 'what-ifs' and 'should have beens'. Maybe on this second go round he would stand a chance, they would stand a chance. He reached out towards the window, with his non-clawed hand, and wished he could jump the gap, but knew the limitations of the mortal body he was in.

"Inuyasha-kun!" a voice called from below causing him to almost lose his balance. He looked down and saw a flashlight and Kasumi, her face a little pale at seeing him in the tree. "Inuyasha-kun please come down."

He hesitated for only an instant before taking a last look at Kagome and scaling down the tree to where Kasumi was waiting. With grace born solely on instinct he landed in front of her, uninjured. He looked into her eyes and then looked away when he saw no reprimand, no anger, but he was grateful because he also saw no pity.

"Let's go inside, shall we?" Kasumi asked, still smiling her never-ending smile.

Inuyasha brushed the dirt off of his jeans and followed her into the house, glancing up at the window one more time before he ducked into the house. There were two cups of tea steaming on the table as well as some cookies. He sat down, realizing now that Kasumi had known exactly where he was and she had allotted him that small amount of time to simply look at her daughter for the first time since his awakening, for the first time in more years than he cared to count.

Leaving the tea to cool, Inuyasha stared into the cup and waited for her to say something. After several minutes he realized that she wasn't going to start the conversation and he took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly.

"How did you beat me here?"

"It's called a car, Inuyasha-kun." She chuckled. "Sesshoumaru sent me back here as soon as possible so I could be here when you arrived."

Inuyasha blushed and sputtered, "You could have stopped me from seeing her, but you didn't. You waited."

"I understand what it's like to be in love and long for that person," she explained, taking a sip of her tea. Inuyasha blushed brighter, but she continue. "I'm not naive, you wouldn't even be here unless you were meant to be. And I believe you were meant to be. But," she cautioned, no longer smiling, "I do believe that you are meant to be here as Taji-kun and you're going to have to return to where you came from."

Her words rang in his slightly enhanced ears and he took another deep breath, trying to not fly off the handle at her for saying what he knew to be true. "Don't you think I don't know that? I died 400 years ago, it was fucking painful, too. I know what happened, I just...fuck." He slammed the table hard with his fists, frustrated. "Shit, I don't know. Shit. I don't know how to do it. I can feel him in me, trying to get free and I just...can't...let...go."

"Well, you are lucky. Before she fell asleep Inuyasha had been here and made the strangest thing for her because she has a cold."

"Oh. I should have warned you about that."

"It's alright." Kasumi leaned over and touched Inuyasha's human hands. "You know she's safe. Inuyasha-kun keeps her safe in the feudal era, Taji-kun keeps her safe here. Eventually we know the well closes and after that your true destiny will shine. I believe this with all of my heart. And a mother's heart is never wrong."

"But I don't know HOW…"

"But you will," she reassured him. "You will."

OoOoO

It was after midnight before Inuyasha walked through the door of 'his' house. Taji's mother was waiting up for him and threw her arms around him in relief. His soul might be in confusion right now, but he was still her son. He let her hold him for a few seconds and then pulled back, feeling a little uncomfortable. She sent him straight up to bed with the promise that they would work things out later. Him coming home was more important right now.

Falling back on old habits, Inuyasha stayed up throughout the night and pondered how to allow Taji back in control. Miroku would probably tell him to meditate, but he found his mind too loud to do that. Sango would talk to him about it. Kagome...Kagome would listen, listen for the right 'mood' or some other shit like that. He had to crack a smile at that. At least he understood what a mood was now.

Dawn broke and Inuyasha saw Miroku, or Kazuo as he liked to be called now, emerge from his house and start a martial arts routine. He made his decision quickly and left the house, heading across the street. There was a sheen of sweat across Kazuo's brow as he led himself in a string of kicks and punches.

"Where'd ya learn all this?" Inuyasha asked, a little impressed with the routine. "You're almost good."

Kazuo didn't stop. "I took years of taekwondo and a few other martial arts over the years. Long before I learned I was Miroku in a past life." He performed a round kick followed by a backfist before stopping and grabbing some water. "Though that may be why I have wanted to take so many classes. It has come to help in battle."

"So," Kazuo continued, "did you meet with Kagome?"

Inuyasha plopped down on the ground and grunted. "Don't worry, bouzu. I just saw her, I didn't talk to her. And Kasumi knew I was there the whole time, she let me."

"Higurashi-san did?" Kazuo sighed. "She was supposed to stop you. Well, at least you didn't do anything overly stupid."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Inuyasha asked with an edge of anger in his voice.

Kazuo smirked. "Nothing, of course. Just that with the way you were acting last night you might have done something...rash."

Casting a glare Kazuo's way Inuyasha cracked his knuckles. "Feh. I'm in love, not stupid. Wait!" he exclaimed, realizing what he had declared. "You didn't hear that, you didn't…"

Kazuo raised an eyebrow. "Yes...I heard nothing."

"That's what I thought!"

"Well," Kazuo said while trying to hide his smirk, "it's time for me to get ready for school. We'll come right home and train with you today."

Inuyasha pulled his hair out of the ponytail he'd had it in since the night before and shook his head to let his hair fall freely in the early morning light. "Sounds like a fun afternoon for me."

They separated, Inuyasha going back towards the house and Kazuo going inside to get ready for school. From his spot on the ground he could see that Kaori was up, and had left her window open for some reason. He blushed and looked at the ground. She probably did it on accident, or was trying to be noticed by Kazuo; according to the others Taji and Kaori were best friends, they had grown up together. No romantic feelings or entanglements, ever.

Entering the house, he resigned himself to a day of television and ramen. Sumi bounced into the room to wish him a good morning, then bounced out the door without a care in the world. He snorted at that but figured she earned that view on life. Dieing three times in a previous life would have warped most other people, Sumi just seemed to slip back into her previous self and find a balance that worked for her. Naoko came in and told him that there was breakfast in the kitchen for him, and then it was quiet.

He ate the breakfast Naoko had left out for him before channel surfing and trying to keep his mind off of who he was supposed to be and not who he was. This bored him after only two hours and he threw the remote to the other side of the room.

"Feh, it's not like that stupid box is going to solve my problems," he said with a growl.

He began to prowl the house, looking it over in ways he hadn't before. He could smell the newness of the structure, even something awful on all of the walls. He knew that Taji had only just started living in this house, so they were both new to it. He pondered if he should resign himself to this mortal body, staying in it would give him what he had always wanted: Kagome.

He sighed and flopped onto the couch. No, that wasn't right. This body was not meant for him. It was meant for Taji, being given a second chance at what he had never had the nerve to say. Maybe, just maybe, their relationship would have a chance.

The day dragged on and soon it became time for everyone to come home from school. Inuyasha, fed up with being cooped up in the house all day, took off towards the school so he could meet his friends on their way home. That, at least, would be promising entertainment given their current relationship status versus their past one.

He hadn't made it three blocks when he felt it. The familiar spike of demonic energy that didn't

belong to anyone at the compound, but was dangerous none the less. He swore and changed his path, heading towards where the energy was originating, preparing himself for battle.

As he ran towards the youkai two people came up on his left and he was ready to strike until he got a good look at them and let out an uneasy breath.

"Kazuo, Kaori, you felt it too?" he asked, using their reincarnated names as they had requested of him.

"It was difficult not to," Kazuo said, grabbing his pen from his pocket. "It's like it's not even trying to hide that they're here."

Kaori pursed her lips in thought and then sighed. "It's probably an open challenge to youkai in the area. They want to climb the ladder of power and either they're very stupid and don't realize that Sesshoumaru and the others live only a few blocks away, or they're don't care about their life and are just throwing it away," she said casually, her own pen in her hand.

Inuyasha held Taji's pen in his palm and looked down at it. "So...Tetsusaiga is in this?"

"Yes," Kaori confirmed as they turned sharply into an alleyway. "But don't forget you can't use it as anything more than a protective barrier! There's another sword - "

"Yeah, I know. Shippou's sword. I can use it."

"Good, because I think that's it!" Kazuo said as he pointed to a shapeless mess of youkai coming towards them.

The three of them ran towards it as everyone else in the street ran away for safety. It was at least twenty feet long with only one eye, purple with green stripes running down it's body. It gave off enough youki to satisfy all three of them that this was a threat, but when it growled "Shikon no Tama" the three of them took their battle stances and watched as the pens transformed into their weapons.

Inuyasha immediately erected Tetsusaiga's barrier, a part of him longing to use it as his own sword, and drew Shippou's as his weapon. It felt good in his hands, and part of him always thirsted for battle, so when he stepped out of the barrier and charged straight at the youkai he was surprised to be thrown back by ki that came out of the youkai's mouth.

"TAJI!" Kaori yelled, forgetting temporarily who was who.

"Inuyasha…"

"Huh?" Kaori asked as she stepped out of the barrier and readied Hiraikotsu.

"I'm Inuyasha!" he yelled, getting up and running back up towards the youkai, avoiding the ki this time around.

Kazuo entered the fight as well, striking at the youkai when it ducked Hiraikotsu. He landed on his feet after landing a blow square in the youkai's eye, blinding it. It screamed and showed it's belly, exposing its soft stomach, its weakness to the warriors.

Inuyasha slit the belly of the beast first up then across, making sure he killed it this time around. The blood splashed out and bathed Inuyasha in the youkai's blood. The youkai fell, nearly crushing Kaori, but it's body vanished quickly, nearly seconds later, and they turned and looked at their predicament.

"Good shot there, Inuyasha, do you want to bathe now or when you get home?" Kazuo asked while laughing.

"Shuddup," he said as he tried to get as much of the blood off of him, resigning himself to shaking like a dog and getting some of the blood on them.

"HEY!"

"Knock if off, you jack ass!"

"What else am I supposed to do?"

Suddenly the quiet street was filled with cars and the overwhelming force of youki. But like being in Sesshoumaru's building it was neutral youki, familiar and non-threatening. They were there to clean up the site, making sure that no humans had seen or would see the battle scene. Usually they had to call Sesshoumaru to let him know a fight had taken place.

"Did either of you call Sesshoumaru?" Kazuo asked, trying to wipe the blood out of his clothes. He received negative answers from the other two and then watched as another car pulled up and Shippou came tumbled out of it, looking like he had been running instead of riding.

"Shippou?" Kaori asked, blinking in confusion. Following him out of the car was Kirara in her small form. She jogged up to Kaori and mewled softly. "Kirara! What's going on?"

Shippou wiped his brow and let out a sigh. "Thank God, you're all safe. Geeze." He fanned himself and slumped against the car. "We almost lost everything."

"Whaddya mean?" Inuyasha asked, confused. "This was a small fry, the worst part is going to be taking a bath to clean up."

Shaking his head, Shippou motioned for the three of them to follow him and get in the car. Inuyasha pondered the vehicle for a few moments, while Shippou teetered on letting him sit on the new leather, before slipping into the passenger seat and admiring the innovation. He knew what a car was, been told about them by Kagome years ago, but he'd never been inside one. Shippou slid into the drivers seat and took off for the compound.

"The fight you were in was a trap and a distraction from the real attack," Shippou explained, an edge to his voice.

"What?!"

"The real attack was at the shrine, where some youkai thought they would get the Shikon no Tama from Kagome there."

Inuyasha's heart stopped. "I don't remember - "

"We stopped them before they got half a mile within the shrine," Shippou reassured all of them when they tried to jump in with questions and concerns. "The problem is that the youkai are making plans, taking chances. Kagome wasn't even home yet, it was just Higurashi-san and the old man and they weren't even aware they were in any danger. Luckily our last line of defense caught them."

Shippou pulled into the gates and drove up the drive to their homes. "We're trying to see if there's anything else at work here, because this feels like someone with a brain is behind it." He paused. "Almost like when Naraku was around. Not as ominous, or as dangerous, but a youkai that's going to possibly go to any length it can to steal the shards Kagome's keeping purified."

"At least we know it can't be Naraku," Kazuo said, worry in his voice but also relief.

"I think we're all grateful for that," Kaori agreed.

Shippou stopped in front of the Yukimura household to let them off. "I'm just warning you to be careful. What ever the youkai are planning they could attack you at any time or any place. Now I have to go talk with Sesshoumaru and see what he thinks about all this, which is probably a lot of me talking and him going "hmm"," he muttered angrily, "Also, all of you need showers. Get out of the once new car."

"Hey, it's not our fault this happened! Inuyasha shook himself and it got all over us. Some of us know where to stand when killing a youkai," Kaori protested.

"Just go get clean," Shippou pleaded with them. "I'm going to have to go buy a new car with this mess. You think regular blood is hard to get out? Try blood with youki in it."

"Great," Kaori sighed as she made her way to her home. "Maybe Onee-chan's home. She'll help me clean up."

Coming from the great field that encompassed most of the compound was a young boy and a small cat who had heard the commotion all the way from the main house. Kohaku watched as they all came into his view and he picked up the pace. "Ane-ue! Onii-chan!"

Both Kaori and Kazuo looked up at the voice and smiled. "Kohaku," Kaori's voice laced with some relief that he was safely in the compound and not out fighting. "I'm glad they didn't take you out to do any of the job."

"I wanted to, but they wouldn't take me," he told her, sounding melancholy. "They said I was too unstable."

"That's probably a good thing," Kazuo assured him. "These youkai's goals are more than what we feared."

"Are you two okay? You're covered in blood…"

"Oh, it's not our blood, and besides, we didn't get the worst of it," Kazuo nodded towards Inuyasha who was arguing with Shippou about more security being placed around the shrine. "Excuse me for a minute, Kohaku."

Kohaku and Kaori exchanged looks and watched as Kazuo made his way towards his home and grabbed a hose and turned the spigot on. From a relatively safe distance he turned the hose to his target and got the result he expected.

Inuyasha didn't see the water coming, but suddenly he felt the shivering cold from the water and he turned just in time to get it in his face. Shippou stopped yelling and started laughing as Inuyasha regained his wits and growled.

"Bouzu! I'm going to kill you for this!" he yelled.

"Oh, that was quicker than I thought!" Kazuo exclaimed as he dropped the hose and took off in the other direction.

"You just wait, you lecherous pervert!"

Kaori tilted her head to the side. "I guess there are some things that never change." She picked up the hose from where Kazuo had dropped it and waited for them to come back around. "And then there's the things that have."

OoOoO

Kouga leaned casually against the door frame to Sesshoumaru's office. He'd done the report on the youkai himself and was unsettled about it. Too many youkai had been involved in this attack, and even though they were all lower youkai it was getting to be too dangerous to leave the shrine on it's own. Someone would now always have to be there to protect it from youkai.

So far none of the taiyoukai or any youkai that could string a sentence together had shown interest in the Shikon no Tama, though they surely knew it was around. Kouga suspected this was because they knew Sesshoumaru, one of the oldest and most feared taiyoukai in the world, was personally overseeing the Higurashi shrine, and the safety of it's occupants and, more than that, the Shikon no Tama. It had been a century since someone had dared to challenge Sesshoumaru, it would be at least another before someone tried to again.

When Kouga was finished with his report he folded his arms and waited for Sesshoumaru's reply.

"I'll have two people assigned to the shrine at all times," Sesshoumaru agreed. "We'll increase the amount of patrolling we're doing to rid ourselves of that filth that think they can acquire the Shikon no Tama. According to Inuyasha there's still three, maybe four, new moons to go through before this will end. It is important to remember that we only know what happened on one side of the well, it is only just now we are finding what happened to Kagome."

Kouga snorted. "I'm surprised inukoro never noticed all the youkai around him. Was he blind?"

"He probably saw only youkai that used charms and hide themselves to go out and work, mundane though they are. He never saw anything harmful to Kagome so he never took action," Sesshoumaru theorized.

"Inukoro protected her like she was the only person in the world sometimes. Other times...well, that's Kikyou from what I understand. We don't know what's going to happen to us as this progresses. It's pretty fucking sad that we know the past and part of the future so well, but another is a mystery to us and makes us so on edge. We could lose people in this new war."

Sesshoumaru pondered Kouga's words after he was gone. He was right. They could lose someone in this war, even if it was against lower youkai. The mortals, especially, were in danger as was proven that day with the attack. Kagome was in more danger than they had expected as well. He had approved the extra security, would do whatever it took to keep the world safe.

He smirked at that. Keeping the world safe. Four hundred years ago he would have been indifferent to everything around him, the safety of a few mortals and youkai meaning nothing to him. But Rin learned the story of the Shikon no Tama and told it to him, so he could know the entire story and its purpose. It struck him, not too long after Rin died as a comfortable old woman in her bed that Kagome's passage through the well might not have been to another country. Rin had once mentioned that the other side of the well had a goshinboku.

Despite his usual avoidance of Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru sought him out and discussed the theory he had that Kagome was not from another country, but rather another time in the future. The goshinboku gave it away. At first Inuyasha didn't believe him, for multiple reasons, but Sesshoumaru merely said that there was a tie and perhaps if he lived long enough he would see Kagome again.

Inuyasha died close to one hundred years later, but with the wish of seeing Kagome again. When this news reached Sesshoumaru's ears he merely said the word "pathetic" and kept moving along. It would be years later, after seeing Kouga and Shippou, before the three of them decided what they should do with their knowledge. So far, the plan had worked. So far.

Sesshoumaru stood up and made his way towards the door. He was done working for the day. He had to meet with Sora in an hour and wanted to look more presentable anyway. He made his way down the hall to his quarters and opened the door with a palm print. He walked inside and immediately he whirrled to his right and drew the sword that never left his side.

"How did you get in here?"

To be continued…

I'll be out of town next week and I don't know what my web access will be like so I'll probably have one up next Saturday or Sunday.

Thank you, as always, to those who have stumbled through this fanfic and liked it, followed it, and better than that: REVIEWED it. I love reviews.


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